e 


lift  : 


TWENTY-TWO  SERMONS 


BY  THE 


BT.  REV.  Ot  P.  MPILVAffiE,  D.D.,  D.C.I. 

*  TBE    PBOT.8T*»T  EPISOOPA!,  OH^.CH  «  THE 


OB,O. 


NEW  YORK: 

ROBERT    CARTEE    &   BROTHERS, 

285  BROADWAY. 

1854. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of    Congress,  in  the  year  1854,  by 

CHARLES    P.    McILVAINE, 
In  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  District  of  Ohio. 


FRANKLIN  PRINTING   COMPANY.   COLUMBUS,   O3I0, 


TO   THE 

C  L  E  B,  0-  Y    AND    LAITY 

OF   THE 

PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  IN  THE  DIOCESE  OF  OHIO, 


PUBLISHED    ACCORDING    TO   A   REQUEST,   LONG   SINCE    MADE    IN    THE    DIOCESAN 
CONVENTION,    ARE 

MOST    RESPECTFULLY    DEDICATED, 

BY   THEIR  AFFECTIONATE   FRIEND   AND   PASTOR, 

THE    AUTHOR, 

WITH   HIS  EARNEST    PRAYER   THAT   WHEN  HIS  VOICE    IS  SILENT   IN    DEATH,   HE 

MAY  LONG   BE    PERMITTED,   BY   THEM,   TO   TEACH   AND 

PREACH   JESUS   CHRIST. 

CINCINNATI,  OCT.  1,  1854. 


CONTENTS. 


SERMON  I. 

THE   POWER   OF   THE  WORD   OF   GOD. 

Psalm  cxix.  130. — "  The  entrance  of  thy  words  giveth  light ;  it  giveth  under- 
standing to  the  simple."  Page  1 . 

SERMON  II. 

THE   TRUE   CHURCH,   THE  WORLD'S  LIGHT. 

Matthew  v.  14— "Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world." 

Page  25. 

SERMON  III. 

THE   CHURCH   OF   CHRIST   IN  ITS  ESSENTIAL   BEING. 

1  Chronicles  xxii.  1 — "  Then  David  said,  This  is  the  house  of  the  Lord  God, 
and  this  is  the  altar  of  the  burnt-offering  for  Israel."  Page  55. 

SERMON  IV. 

THE   PERSONAL   MINISTRY   OF   CHRIST,  IN  HIS  CHURCH,   NOW   AND   EVER. 

Luke  iii.  16,  17 — "I  indeed  baptize  you  with  water ;  but  one  mightier  than  I 
cometh,  the  latchet  of  whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  unloose  :  he  shall 
baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  fire :  whose  fan  is  in  his 
hand,  and  he  will  thoroughly  purge  his  floor,  and  will  gather  the  wheat 
into  his  garner ;  but  the  chaff  he  will  burn  with  fire  unquenchable." 

Page  83. 

SERMON  V. 

THE   PRESENCE   OF   CHRIST  IN  THE   ASSEMBLIES  OF  HIS  PEOPLE. 

Matthew  xviii.  20 — "Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name, 

there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them." 

Page  103. 


TU  CONTENTS. 

SERMON  VI. 

THE  NATURE  AND   CONDEMNATION   OF   SIX1. 

1  John  iii.  4—"  Sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law." 

Pag*  124. 

SERMON  VII. 

THE  GREAT  FEAST  AND   THE  VAIN   EXCUSE. 

Luke  xiv.  16,  17,  18 — "  Then  he  said  unto  them,  a  certain  man  made  a  great 
supper,  and  bade  many  :  and  sent  his  servant  at  supper  time,  to  say  to 
them  that  were  bidden,  Come,  for  all  things  are  now  ready  ;  and  they  all 

with  one  consent  began  to  make  excuse. 

Page  147. 

SERMON  VIII. 

THE   CALL  TO  DILIGENCE. 

Romans  xiii.  12 — "  The  night  is  far  spent ;  the  day  is  at  hand." 

Page  171. 

SERMON  IX. 

THE   CHRISTIAN  NOT  OF   THE   WORLD. 

John  xvii.  16 — "  They  are  not  of  the  world,  even  as  I  am  not  of  the  world." 

Page  190. 

SERMON  X. 

THE   TRUE  ESTIMATE    OF   LIFE. 

Psalrn  xc.  12 — "So  teach  us  to  number  our  days  that  we  may  apply  our 

hearts  unto  wisdom." 

Page  213. 

SERMON  XL 

THE  NATURE  AND  EFFICACY  OK  SAVING  FAITH. 

John  iii.  36 — "He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life  ;  and  he  that 
believeth  not  the  Son,  shall  not  see  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on 

him." 

Page  231. 

SERMON  XII. 

FAITH   APPROPRIATING   THE   SACRIFICE   OF  CHRIST. 

John  vi.  53,  54 — "Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of 
the  Son  of  Man,  and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you.  Whoso 
eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood,  hath  eternal  life ;  and  I  will  raise 

him  up  at  the  last  day." 

Page  257. 


CONTENTS.  Vll. 

SERMON  XIII. 

THE   CHARACTER  OF    GOD    AS  MANIFESTED   IN   CHRIST. 

1  John  iv.  8,  9— «  He  that  loveth  not,  knoweth  not  God  ;  for  God  is  love.  In 
this  was  manifested  the  love  of  God  towards  us,  because  that  God  gent 
his  only  begotten  Son  into  the  world,  that  we  might  live  through  him." 

Page  284. 

SERMON  XIV. 

THE  BELIEVER'S  HIDDEN  LIFE  IN  CHRIST. 

Colossians  iii.  3,  4 — "Ye  are  dead,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God: 
when  Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall  ye  also  appear  with 

him  in  glory." 

Page  308. 

SERMON  XV. 

THE  BELIEVER'S  PROGRESSIVE  LIFE  IN  CHRIST. 

Proverbs  iv.  18 — "  The  path  of  the  just  is  as  the  shining  light  that  shineth 

more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day." 

Page  326. 

SERMON  XVI. 

THE  BELIEVER'S  ASSURANCE  IN  CHRIST. 

Romans  viii.  32 — "  He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for 
us  all ;  how  shall  he  not  with  him  also  freely  give  us  all  things  ?" 

Page  347. 

SERMON  XVII. 

THE  BELIEVER'S  PORTION  IN  CHRIST. 

Colossians  i.  12 — "Giving  thanks  unto  the  Father  which  hath  made  us  meet 

to  be  partakers  of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light." 

Page  371. 

SERMON  XVIII. 

THE  PRESENT   BLESSEDNESS  OF   THE   DEAD   IN   CHRIST. 

Revelation  xiv.  13 — "  I  heard  a  voice  from  Heaven  saying  unto  me,  Write 
Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth :  Yea,  saith  the 
Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from  their  labors  ;  and  their  works  do  follow 
them." 

Page  390. 


Vlll.  CONTENTS. 

SERMON  XIX. 

THE   RESURRECTION   OF   CHRIST. 

Luke  xxiy.  34—"  The  Lord  is  risen  indeed." 

Page  413. 

SERMON  XX. 

THE  RESURRECTION  OF    THE  DEAD    IX   CHRIST. 

John  xi.  23—"  Thy  brother  shall  rise  again." 

Page  439. 

SERMON  XXL 

THE  FINAL  SATISFACTION   OF   THE   BELIEVER  IK   JESUS. 

Psalm  xvii.  15 — "As  for  me,  I  will  behold  thy  face  in  righteousness  ;  I  shall 

be  satisfied  when  I  awake,  with  thy  likenesss." 

Page  4G4. 

SERMON  XXII. 

THE  MINISTER  OF  ^CHRIST  EXHORTED   TO  GROWTH   IN   GRACE. 

1  Timothy  vi.   11 — "Thou,  0  man  of    God,  flee    these  things,  and  follow 
after  rightecmsness,  godliness,  faith,  loye,  patience,  meekness." 

Page  488. 


SERMON  I. 

THE  POWER   OF   THE   WORD   OF   GOD. 


PSALM  cxix.  130. 

**  The  entrance  of  thy  words  gireth  light ;  it  gireth  understanding  unto  the 
simple." 

"!N  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens  and  the 
earth,  and  the  earth  was  without  form,  and  void,  and 
darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep."  The  material 
of  this  world  was  all  there,  under  that  darkness,  but  there 
was  nothing  else.  Organization  was  not ;  life  was  not ; 
there  was  the  element  of  all  things,  but  the  form  of 
none. 

"The  Spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the 
waters "  Still  the  chaos  remained.  Life  came  not. 
There  was  to  be  no  order  nor  life,  till  there  was  light ; 
nor  any  light,  without  the  word.  Then  came  the  word  of 
God;  its  first  voice  to  this  world:  "Let  there  be  light. 
And  there  was  light.  And  the  evening  and  the  morning 
10  ere  the  first  day"  Thus  early  the  union  of  the  Spirit 
and  the  word.  The  next  thing  was  order,  organization ; 
then  life,  and  then  man,  a  living  soul  in  the  likeness  of 
his  Maker. 

But  soon  that  crown  upon  the  head  of  creation  had 
fallen.  The  image  of  God,  in  man,  was  lost.  The  grace 
of  God  interposes  to  restore  it.  Lost  in  the  first  Adam, 

it  is  renewed  in  the  second.     There  is  a  new  creation  in 
1 


2  SERMON    I. 

Christ  Jesus.  The  Spirit  of  God  comes  clown  again  and 
moves  upon  the  face  of  that  deep  of  darkness,  and  confu- 
sion, and  spiritual  death,  into  which  the  whole  human 
nature  is  fallen. 

But  the  God  of  nature  is  the  God  of  grace.  And  his 
instrument,  as  in  the  beginning,  still  is  Light.  Until  the 
light  of  the  knowledge  of  Himself,  in  his  law  and  in  his 
gospel,  in  his  justice  and  grace,  in  his  holiness  and  love, 
as  all  are  manifested  in  Christ,  reconciling  the  world  unto 
Himself,  be  received  into  man's  heart,  his  recovery  to  the 
likeness  of  God  cannot  begin ;  his  nature  must  remain 
"  without  form,  and  void ;"  its  affections  out  of  place  and 
perverted,  in  conflict  with  one  another  and  the  Creator, 
all  desolate  and  empty  as  to  all  spiritual  life.  "God  is 
light."  His  children  are  "children  of  light."  Light  is 
the  element  of  their  new  birth.  How  then  reads  the 
account  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  new  creation  ?  "  God, 
(it  is  written)  who  commanded  the  light  to  shine  out  of 
darkness,  hath  shined  in  our  hearts,  to  give  the  light  of 
the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ."* 

Such  is  the  elementary  process  by  which  we  are 
recovered  from  the  fall.  "  We  are  his  workmanship, 
(saith  the  Apostle)  created  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  good 
works."  Each  true  child  of  God  is  that  new  creation  ; 
exclusively,  and  most  wonderfully  the  "workmanship"  of 
God ;  the  work  of  his  power,  his  wisdom,  his  grace ; 
transforming  him  by  the  renewing  of  his  mind,  translating 
him  into  marvellous  light;  a  work  even  more  to  the 
glory  of  God  than  the  creation  of  the  heavens  and  earth, 

*  2  Cor.  iv.  G. 


THE   POWER    OF   THE   WORD   OF   GOD.  O 

because  the  manifestation  of  his  grace,  as  well  as  of  his 
power.  All  this  visible  workmanship  shall  pass  away ; 
but  that  remaineth,  and  will  be  for  ever  making  known 
more  and  more,  "to  the  principalities  and  powers  in 
heavenly  places,  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God." 

But  from  beginning  to  ending,  that  work,  by  the  Spirit 
as  the  power,  is  by  the  light  as  the  instrument ;  "  light  of 
the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God,  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ ;"  in  his  person  and  offices,  especially  in  his 
sacrifice  on  the  cross — and  that  glory  made  visible  to  us 
by  God's  shining  in  our  hearts. 

No  sooner  appears  that  light  in  the  heart,  than,  under 
the  power  of  the  Spirit,  all  things  become  new;  order 
begins  where  confusion  reigned.  Life  enters  the  void  of 
that  dead  and  desolate  nature.  The  law  of  holiness  takes 
the  mastery.  The  affections  find  their  rightful  objects 
and  range  themselves  in  their  proper  relations  to  the 
Creator  and  the  creature.  The  love  of  God  is  shed 
abroad  in  the  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  man  is  again 
in  the  likeness  of  his  Maker. 

But  the  God  of  nature  is  the  God  of  grace.  And  as 
light  came  not  in  the  first  creation  without  the  wordy  so 
it  comes  not  in  the  neAV  creation. 

We  have  seen  that  it  is  "  the  light  of  the  knowledge 
of  his  glory  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,"  that  God 
employs.  The  sun,  then,  that  shines  on  us  is  Christ. 
"  I,  (saith  our  ascended  Lord)  am  the  light  of  the  world; 
he  that  followeth  me  shall  not  walk  in  darkness,  but  shall 
have  the  light  of  life."  But  that  sun  has  gone  far  out  of 
our  sight.  How  then  doth  his  shining  now  come  to  us  ? 
When  the  sun  of  our  natural  day  is  beyond  our  horizon, 


4  SERMON   I. 

there  is  a  moon  to  receive  its  light  and  reflect  it  to  the 
earth.  Has  the  God  of  grace  provided  in  like  manner 
for  the  absence  of  him  on  whom  our  spiritual  day 
.depends?  The  Psalmist  answers  :  "Thy  word  is  a  light 
unto  my  feet  and  a  lamp  unto  my  path."  God,  by  his 
Spirit,  takes  of  the  things  that  are  Christ's,  in  his  word, 
and  shows  them  unto  us.*  He  shines  on  the  Scriptures, 
and  by  them  in  our  hearts.  He  gives  no  new  revelation 
to  the  word,  but  he  gives  a  new  sight  to  our  understand- 
ing. He  plants  no  new  stars  in  the  sky,  but  he  gives  us 
a  new  lens  to  see  what  have  been  always  there.  Other 
means  of  making  us  wise  unto  salvation  he  could  certainly 
have  employed,  as  he  gave  light  to  the  earth  before  he 
gave  it  the  sun.  But  as  it  is  now  his  ordinance,  that 
without  the  sun  there  shall  be  no  day,  so  hath  he 
ordained,  that  without  his  word  there  shall  be  no  life 
abiding  in  us.  Other  ordinances  he  hath  made  for  our 
spiritual  nurture  and  growth,  but  all  their  light  is  in  the 
word.  Whether  the  voice  of  the  preacher,  or  the 
Church's  discipline,  or  the  ministration  of  sacraments, 
they  are  only  the  means  whereby  God  shows  forth, 
applies,  or  seals  more  emphatically  the  precious  things  of 
his  word;  and  only  according  to  the  reception  of  this  in 
the  heart,  can  they  be  efficacious  to  salvation. 

We  are  now  prepared  for  the  first  of  the  two  divisions 
of  this  discourse,  viz : 

I.  The  condition  on  which  the  efficacy  of  the  word 
depends — "  The  entrance  of  thy  word  giveth  light." 

The  word  of  God  must  have  entrance  to  our  hearts. 
"Let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell  in  you,  in  all  wisdom,"  is 

*,Tohn  xvi.  14. 


THE  POWER   OP  THE   WORD   OF   GOD.  0 

the  requirement.  "  God  hath  shined  in  our  hearts,"  was 
the  experience  of  the  Apostle  and  his  brethren. 

The  daily  sun  enlightens  us  not,  except  his  rays  have 
admission  through  the  windows  communicating  with  the 
mind  within.  It  is  his  entrance  to  the  inner  chamber 
of  the  eye  by  which  we  see.  So  must  it  be  with  the 
word. 

"  True,"  says  some  reader  of  the  Scriptures ;  "  I  am 
not  ignorant  of  a  truth  so  elementary.  Of  course  the 
word  must  have  access  to  my  thoughts  and  opinions  :  I 
must  not  only  read  but  ponder  it.  Whatever  impedes  an 
honest  interpretation  must  be  taken  away.  It  must 
have  entrance  to  my  most  cherished  belief."  Yea,  but 
there  is  still  an  inner  chamber  which  it  claims  to  enter. 
The  outer  apartment  of  the  mind  it  must  indeed  first 
penetrate,  and  with  your  every  intellectual  faculty  and 
effort  must  it  be  allowed  free  course.  But  it  must  not 
stop  there  ;  for  its  chief  message  cannot  be  delivered 
there.  It  is  sent  to  the  secret  conscience  and  heart,  and 
must  not  be  kept  waiting  outside,  as  if  you  could  receive 
its  errand  at  second  hand.  It  comes  direct  from  God, 
charged  to  speak  with  the  master  of  the  house ;  and  in 
your  most  private  audience,  face  to  face,  must  it  be 
received.  It  comes  with  "  doctrine,  reproof,  correction, 
and  instruction  in  righteousness,"  and  demands  that  your 
most  hidden  thoughts,  and  motives,  and  affections — all 
from  which  are  the  issues  of  life — be  arraigned  before  it, 
to  be  examined,  reproved,  corrected,  instructed.  Shut- 
ting the  door,  then,  against  the  interruption  of  worldly 
cares  ;  realizing  the  presence  of  God  and  his  eye  upon 
us ;  mindful  of  all  we  have  at  stake,  and  seeking  help  at 


SERMON    I. 

the  throne  of  grace,  that  we  may  read,  mark,  learn,  and 
inwardly  digest  the  word  to  our  soul's  health,  we  must 
bid  it  search  the  ground  of  our  hearts.  Amidst  the  deep 
corruptions  and  wants  of  our  nature,  amidst  all  its  ruin 
and  indwelling  sins,  in  the  citadel  of  our  rebellion  and 
the  temple  of  our  worldly  idolatry,  the  word  must  take 
its  stand,  and  speak  to  us  face  to  face,  telling  us  of  God, 
his  law,  his  holiness,  his  condemnation  of  our  sins ;  tell- 
ing us  of  Christ,  the  grace  that  gave  him,  and  the  love 
that  brought  him  to  be  a  sacrifice  for  us,  and  the  fulness 
and  freeness  of  the  salvation  his  blood  hath  purchased  for 
us ;  yea,  deep  in  our  hearts  with  the  consciousness  of  our 
ruin  and  beggary  bearing  us  down  to  eternal  death,  must 
the  word  speak  to  us  of  Christ  on  the  cross,  and  Christ 
on  the  throne ;  especially  of  the  perfect  justification  of 
all  believers  through  his  righteousness  imputed,  and  their 
finally  perfect  sanctification  through  his  Spirit  imparted 
unto  them. 

Such  is  the  entrance  on  which  the  power  of  the  word, 
to  make  us  wise  unto  salvation,  depends.  And  thus  are 
explained  the  different  effects  of  the  reading  of  the  Bible 
on  different  minds  equally  familiar  with  its  chapters. 

To  many  a  man,  after  years  of  diligent  perusal,  it 
remains,  as  to  all  spiritual  improvement,  a  sealed  book. 
He  is  still  "  the  natural  man"  that  "  perceiveth  not  the 
things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  neither  can  he  know  them, 
because  they  are  spiritually  discerned  ;"*  seeing  them 
afar  off,  as  the  natural  eye  sees  the  starry  nebulae  of  the 
heavens,  but  wanting  the  help  of  a  spiritual  vision  to 
bring  them  nigh  and  discover  their  magnitude,  and 

*1  Cor.  ii.  14. 


THE   POWER    OF   THE   WORD   OF   GOD.  I 

number,  and  relations,  and  glory.  Every  controversy  of 
the  truth,  he  may  have  mastered.  Among  the  ablest  of 
its  expounders,  he  may  be  ranked.  And  yet  may  there 
be  a  veil  on  his  heart,*  so  that  he  sees  nothing  beyond 
the  letter,  and  a  ray  from  the  inner  temple  of  the  truth 
may  have  never  reached  him.  Such  a  verse  as,  "to  you 
that  believe,  he  is  precious"  may  find  no  response  in  his 
experience.  All  within  him  may  remain  as  cold  and  dead 
to  the  calls  of  the  word,  as  undrawn  by  its  invitations,  as 
uncheered  by  its  promises,  as  unaffected  by  its  revelation 
of  the  wonderful  love  of  God  in  Christ,  as  fast  bound  in 
woiidliness,  and  as  alien  from  the  hidden  life  of  the  man 
of  God,  as  if  a  Bible  had  never  met  his  eye.  The  reason 
is,  the  word  has  never  had  "  entrance"  It  has  been  kept 
as  a  servant  at  the  door,  not  received  as  a  friend  into  the 
private  house. 

But  not  so  with  many  an  humble  reader,  though  of  far 
inferior  furniture  of  knowledge  and  skill  of  interpretation, 
who  "  applies  his  heart  to  understanding ;"  searching  the 
Scriptures  "for  hid  treasures;"  whose  affections  take  hold 
on  their  chapters,  whose  hungering  after  righteousness 
digests  their  teaching  ;  whose  prayers  obtain  the  help  of 
the  Spirit,  that  the  truth  may  give  him  life.  To  him 
they  are  "all  glorious  within,"  their  "vesture  is  of 
wrought  gold."  "Wondrous  things"  are  in  God's  law, 
whoever  reads  it ;  but  to  none  do  they  appear  but  to  him 
who  prays,  "  Open  thou  mine  eyes"  That  is  the  man  who 
comes  to  know,  by  an  evidence  which  cannot  deceive,  that 
the  word  is  of  God,  because  it  does  in  him  the  works  of 
God,  and  leads  his  heart  unto  God,  and  sheds  abroad 

*2  Cor.  iii.  13-16. 


8  SERMON   I. 

therein  the  love  of  God.  The  entrance  of  the  word  gives 
him  light,  and  that  light  giveth  him  life.  "  Thy  word 
(said  the  Psalmist)  have  I  hid  in  my  heart"  And 
because  he  could  say  this,  he  could  further  say,  "Thy 
testimonies  have  I  taken  as  my  heritage  for  ever,  for 
they  are  the  rejoicing  of  my  heart." 

We  come  now,  in  the  second  place,  to 

II.  The  power  of  the  word  thus  having  entrance — "It 
giveth  light*  It  giveth  understanding  unto  the  simple" 

The  effect  of  the  word  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  is  the 
great,  standing,  comment  on  these  words  That  day  was 
the  first  of  the  new  creation  under  the  Gospel.  A 
deeper  moral  darkness  than  that  which  then  covered  the 
earth,  had  never  been  known.  A  more  hopeless  people 
among  whom  to  begin  the  effort  of  the  word,  than  the 
Jews  then  at  Jerusalem,  could  not  be.  More  helpless 
agents  than  the  laborers  of  that  day,  apostles  of  a 
Master  recently  crucified,  and  supposed  by  all  that  heard 
them  to  be  still  in  death,  we  cannot  imagine.  But  the 
word  of  their  lips  was  not  their  word.  "The  Spirit 
gave  them  utterance"  and  gave  it  entrance.  As  they 
delivered  the  word,  God  commanded  the  light.  And 
what  a  birth-day  that  was !  what  a  new  creation  !  Behold 
that  great  multitude — Jews  out  of  all  nations,  hastening 
to  the  apostles  to  confess  Christ  and  receive  his  baptism ! 
Three  thousand,  in  one  day,  brought  to  repentance,  joy- 
fully embracing  the  Gospel,  forsaking  all  to  follow  Jesus  ! 
They  come  out  of  all  the  enmity  and  obduracy  and 
unbelief  of  a  people  that  have  just  been  rejecting  and 
crucifying  with  wicked  hands  that  same  Jesus.  His 
blood  is  on  their  raiment,  and  the  hatred  of  his  gospel 


THE  POWER   OF  THE   WORD   OF   GOD. 


9 


was  just  now  in  their  hearts.  But  see  the  new  creation ! 
Since  the  world  began,  there  had  not  been  such  a  mani- 
festation of  the  power  of  God.  All  things  in  those  three 
thousand  hearts  are  become  new — their  views,  their 
affections,  their  faith.  They  have  put  off  the  old  man 
and  put  on  the  new  man.  All  things  are  now  counted 
loss  for  Christ.  The  shame  of  his  cross  is  their  glory ; 
and  in  the  city  of  his  rejection  and  crucifixion,  and 
before  the  rulers  that  slew  him,  they  take  their  stand  as 
his  disciples,  ready  to  die  for  his  name.  The  entrance  of 
God's  word  had  given  them  great  light,  and  the  simplest 
among  them,  it  had  suddenly,  in  one  day,  made  "wise 
unto  salvation." 

We  look  back  to  that  day,  as  the  day  of  days,  intended 
for  light  to  all  subsequent  days.  Never  can  the  word 
have  a  harder  work  to  do  than  the  work  of  that  day ; 
never  can  it  attempt  an  entrance  into  a  more  impenetra- 
ble fortress  of  human  pride  and  enmity ;  never  can  its 
missionaries  encounter  trials  of  faith  more  severe,  or 
need  the  power  of  God  more  perfectly.  There  is  nothing 
of  the  depth  of  Satan  in  "  the  Man  of  Sin,"  or  in  the 
strong  entrenchments  of  the  power  of  darkness  among 
the  heathen,  or  even  in  the  awful  atheism  that  is  now 
coming  in  like  a  flood,  that  presents  a  mightier  barrier 
against  the  word  than  did  the  mind  of  the  Jews  on  the 
morning  of  that  day. 

We  must  not  allow  the  encouragement  thus  derived  to 
be  impaired  by  the  suggestion  that  the  marvellous  things 
of  that  Pentecost  were  miraculous,  and  that  days  of 
miracle  are  passed.  True — the  Spirit  wrought  miracu- 
lously in  those  that  spake  the  word  to  give  them  utter- 


10  SERMON    I. 

ance  in  divers  tongues,  but  not  in  those  that  heard  to 
give  them  new  hearts.  It  was  an  extraordinary  operation 
of  the  Spirit  that  gave  such  manifest  witness  to  the  word 
in  the  speech  of  the  Apostles.  It  was  the  ordinary, 
which  is  promised  to  the  Church  in  all  ages,  that  gave 
such  abundant  entrance  to  the  word,  and  such  light  to  its 
entrance. 

Were  the  private  history  of  the  conversion  of  each 
man  of  that  new-created  host,  unveiled  to  us,  what 
striking  attestations,  under  all  variety  of  circumstances, 
should  we  read,  to  the  light-giving  power  of  the  simple 
word,  under  the  blessing  of  the  Spirit!  It  was  no 
eloquence  or  labored  argument  of  the  preacher  that 
turned  them.  Not  one  of  them  ascribed  his  conversion 
to  the  miracle  of  the  tongues,  however  that  may  have 
first  arrested  his  attention.  All  he  knew  as  the  instru- 
ment of  the  power  that  wrought  in  him  thus  to  will  and 
to  do,  was  the  word  he  had  heard  concerning  the  crucified 
Jesus ;  and  it  was  the  very  simplest  statement  of  the 
word;  not  in  any  extended  view,  but  only  in  a  few  Old 
Testament  passages,  with  a  little  comment;  and  most 
likely,  in  many  cases,  it  was  but  a  single  one  of  those  tes- 
timonies that  did  the  work  with  the  conscience  and  heart. 

Such  has  been  the  working  of  the  word  ever  since  that 
day.  How  often  has  a  single  verse,  with  wonderful 
grasp,  arrested  the  careless  sinner  after  he  had  been  for 
many  years  an  unmoved  hearer,  and  taught  him  such 
views  of  the  law  of  God  and  his  transgressions,  that  he 
could  not  rest  till  he  fled  to  Christ  for  refuge!  And 
who  shall  fix  the  limit  to  this  power  of  the  word  to  give 
light  to  such  wanderers,  when  we  know  it  is  God  that,  by 


THE   POWER   OF   THE   WORD   OF   GOD.  11 

it,  shines  in  the  heart?  Jesus  fed  the  five  thousand  with 
a  few  barley-loaves.  And  what  measure  of  saving  light 
may  he  not  pour  into  thousands  of  humble,  seeking 
hearts,  by  a  few  words  of  his  scriptures !  David  had 
but  a  small  part  of  the  Old  Testament  for  that  word 
which  was  his  "meditation  all  the  day."  But  with  that 
little,  God  gave  such  light  that  David's  religious  experi- 
ence has  been  the  example  of  Christians  of  every  age, 
and  of  the  highest  spiritual  degree. 

And  this  suggests  the  beautiful  similarity  of  the 
spiritual  image  wrought  by  the  light  of  the  word,  wher- 
ever, in  any  age  or  part  of  the  earth,  it  has  been  received. 
A  strong  family  likeness  between  the  piety  of  the  saints 
under  all  dispensations  since  Enoch  walked  with  God, 
establishes  their  near  relationship  as  children  of  the  same 
Father,  the  workmanship  of  the  same  grace.  Is  it  the 
spiritual  character  of  Augustine  in  the  fourth  century,  or 
of  Luther  in  the  sixteenth,  or  of  Baxter,  or  Doddridge, 
or  Venn,  or  Simeon,  of  England — or  of  Bedell  or  Milnor, 
in  the  new  world;  is  it  a  work  of  the  word  on  some 
humble  daughter  in  the  dairyman's  cottage  or  the  high 
and  mighty  in  a  king's  palace ;  is  it  amid  the  refinements 
of  your  high  places  of  learning  or  among  the  degraded 
victims  of  the  vilest  heathenism,  that  you  trace  the  doings 
of  the  word?  You  see,  in  the  piety  it  creates,  innu- 
merable varieties  of  minor  details,  with  wonderful  iden- 
tity of  ruling  feature ; — the  great  transformation  every- 
where the  same,  and  everywhere  ascribed  to  the  same 
grace;  the  affections,  the  desires,  the  trust,  the  hope,  the 
conflict  the  same;  the  same  spiritual  meat,  like  the 
manna  of  the  desert,  is  the  food  of  all ;  the  same  flowing 


12  SERMON   I. 

Rock  of  living  water  is  the  refreshment  of  all ;  the  same 
Bible  prayers  and  praises  express  the  wants,  and  faith, 
and  love,  of  all.  Jesus  is  the  joy  of  all. 

But  I  must  speak  more  particularly  of  that  clause  of 
the  text,  which  says,  that  the  entrance  of  God's  words 
"giveth  understanding  unto  the  simple" 

I  see  in  this  an  advance  upon  the  previous  statement ; 
a  more  emphatic  declaration  of  the  power  of  the  word. 
It  means  not  only  that  its  entrance  giveth  light,  but 
that  it  so  giveth  light  as  to  give  understanding  in  the 
truth  of  God  even  "  unto  the  simple." 

Here  let  us  pause  a  moment.  In  all  efforts  to  pro- 
mote the  free  circulation  and  universal  reading  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  more  and  more  in  these  days  of  the 
quickened  efforts  of  Popery,  we  are  encountered  by  a 
Church  and  by  many  who  are  harnessed  in  her  traces, 
while  they  wear  not  her  livery,  telling  us  that  the  Bible 
is  not  for  the  simple ;  that  instead  of  getting  from  it 
understanding,  they  can  only  pervert  it  to  their  own 
destruction ;  and  indeed  that  to  none  is  it  a  safe  or  edifying 
book,  with  which  they  ought  to  be  trusted,  but  under  par- 
ticular guidance  of  a  priest  and  the  authoritative  inter- 
pretation of  that  Church. 

We  answer,  "The  entrance  of  thy  words  giveth  un- 
derstanding unto  the  simple"  We  affirm  and  may  safely 
call  the  history  of  Bible  reading  to  prove  it,  that  there  is 
not  a  doctrine  of  the  gospel,  a  precept  pertaining  to 
God's  service,  a  single  consolation  in  Christ,  a  warning, 
an  exhortation  affecting  the  Christian  life,  that  is  not,  in 
some  at  least  of  its  forms  of  expression,  as  plain  in  the 
Scriptures  to  the  simple,  as  to  the  learned,  so  making  the 


THE   POWER   OF  THE   WORD   OF   GOD.  13 

word,  like  the  true  Church,  which,  under  God,  it  creates, 
Catholic  word,  open  to  all  conditions  of  men,  sent  for  all, 
suited  to  all,  and  not,  as  some  who  make  a  special  boast 
of  the  name  of  Catholic  would  have  it,  a  sealed  book  to 
all  mankind,  which  only  the  traditions  of  ages,  managed 
by  a  peculiar  priesthood,  could  open  and  interpret. 

That  there  are  not  high  places  in  Scripture  which  only 
the  ladder  of  studious  learning  may  mount,  we  are  far  from 
teaching.  But  just  as  far  are  we  from  allowing,  that  on 
the  scaling  of  those  heights  depends  our  knowledge  of 
any  great  truth  pertaining  to  Christian  faith,  or  hope,  or 
life.  It  is  where  the  humblest  may  walk,  that  the  "trea- 
sure hid  in  a  field"  is  to  be  discovered;  and  while  the 
man  of  great  equipment  may  be  looking  too  high  to  find 
it,  the  simple  has  already  "  sold  all  he  has,  and  bought 
it,"  and  enjoyed  and  loved  it. 

But  of  all  pretenders  to  special  light  in  understanding 
the  Scriptures,  and  all  claimants  to  your  special  submis- 
sion to  their  interpretation,  the  church  of  Rome  has  the 
least  reason  to  expect  her  claim  to  be  acknowledged.  Let 
her  show,  not  that  she  has  fathomed  mysteries  and 
mounted  heights  which  the  simple  cannot  reach,  but  that 
she  has  not  most  grossly  darkened  and  perverted  such 
plain  and  elementary  teaching  of  the  Scriptures  as  the 
simple  and  honest-minded  cannot  mistake.  One  would 
suppose  that  if  words  can  make  any  teaching  plain,  it  is 
the  wording  of  the  second  commandment,  as  forbidding 
the  bowing  down  to  and  worshipping  graven  images ;  or 
this,  "  there  is  one  God  and  one  Mediator  between  God 
and  man"  as  expressly  limiting  our  refuge  to  one  only 
Mediator  ;  or,  "the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  clcanscth  us  from 


14  SERMON   I. 

all  sin"  as  freeing  the  believer  in  Jesus  from  all  reason 
to  apprehend  any  suffering  for  his  sins  in  the  world  to 
come ;  or  the  simple  words  of  the  institution  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  as  incapable  of  having  engrafted  on  them 
the  monstrous  blasphemy  of  transubstantiation  or  the 
idolatry  of  the  mass.  But  what  work  have  the  interpre- 
tations of  Rome  made  of  these  plain  Scriptures  !  Call 
up  the  simple  from  any  of  your  humblest  ranks  of  Bible 
readers,  and  how  easily  will  he  show  that  in  these  things, 
either  she  hath  no  honesty  to  acknowledge,  or  no  under- 
standing to  perceive  the  meaning  of  the  word.  Let  her 
disband  her  army  of  mediators,  and  put  out  the  fires  of 
her  purgatory,  and  reduce  her  pompous  mass  to  the  sim- 
plicity of  the  Christian  sacrament  as  the  Lord  ordained 
it ;  let  her  pluck  down  and  give  to  the  moles  and  the 
bats  her  innumerable  idols,  her  worshipped  pictures  and 
images,  and  dead  men's  bones  ;  let  her  put  on  sackcloth 
and  repent,  before  God  and  man,  for  the  souls  she  has 
seduced,  and  the  indignity  she  has  done  to  God's  com- 
mandment, by  a  grossness  of  idolatry  which  surpasses 
even  that  of  heathen  Rome  ;  and  then  let  her  begin  anew 
to  learn  in  simplicity  and  godly  sincerity  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures which  are  able  to  make  even  such  a  blind  and 
perverted  church  wise  unto  salvation.  Till  then,  let  her 
not  wonder  if  we  think  her  incompetent  to  teach  the 
plainest  lessons  of  Christ,  and  would  rather  rely  on  the 
interpretations  of  the  simplest  reader  of  the  Bible,  whose 
conscience  is  undefiled  by  the  known  habit  of  disobe- 
dience to  God's  plain  will,  than  on  hers. 

But  we  must  remember  that  our  text  does  not  speak 
of  the  mere   interpretation  of  the  word,  but  also   and 


THE   POWER    OF    THE   WORD    OF    GOD.  15 

especially  of  its  spiritual  discernment ;  that  which  "  the 
natural  man,"  with  all  the  aids  of  learning  and  of  vigorous 
intellect  cannot  have,  while  the  spiritually-minded  peasant 
on  his  estate  may  be  rejoicing  therein ;  the  discernment 
which  draws  the  heart  to  the  word,  and  applies  the  word 
to  the  heart  with  a  subduing  and  sanctifying  power,  so  that 
by  it  we  come  to  know,  not  only  the  word,  but  Christ 
whom  it  is  its  great  object  to  make  manifest  in  our  hearts. 
Let  us  also  remember  that  in  this  spiritual  discernment 
of  the  things  of  the  Spirit,  is  contained  all  that  God 
regards,  as  the  true  knowledge  of  himself,  of  his  will,  or 
his  salvation  in  Christ ;  all  other  knowledge  of  his  word 
being  in  his  sight  but  as  chaff  in  the  comparison ;  that  in 
his  sight  the  simplest,  having  that  one  attainment,  are  of 
more  understanding  and  of  more  dignity  in  his  kingdom, 
and  of  more  honor  to  his  service,  than  if,  without  it,  they 
had  all  faith,  so  as  to  remove  mountains,  and  all  learning, 
so  as  to  expound  all  mysteries.  Let  us  remember  also 
that  in  the  school  of  this  spiritual  discernment,  the  Spirit 
of  God  is  the  only  teacher  :  that  there  is  no  respect  of 
persons  there ;  the  way  of  promotion  being  just  as  easy 
and  free  to  the  simplest  rustic,  as  to  the  most  instructed 
and  elevated  ecclesiastic  ;  humility,  earnestness  and 
prayer,  being  the  only  qualifications  required. 

Then  remember  that  while  God  gives  grace  to  the 
humble,  he  resists  the  proud ;  that  while  he  gives  more 
light  to  him  who  walks  by  what  he  has,  he  takes  away 
his  light  from  them  that  abuse  it  to  works  of  darkness ; 
remember  also  that  the  Apostle  speaks  of  God's  send- 
ing to  those  who  have  "pleasure  in  unrighteousness," 
"strong  delusion  that  they  should  believe  a  lie"*  and  further- 

*  2  Thes.  ii.  11,  12. 


16  SERMON   I. 

more  that  no  "pleasure  in  unrighteousness"  is  more 
directly  connected  in  Scripture  with  such  awful  punish- 
ment, than  that  which  changes  "  the  glory  of  the  incor- 
ruptible God,  into  an  image  made  like  corruptible  man," 
"  worshipping  and  serving  the  creature  more  than  the 
Creator."*  Then  look  how  the  Church  of  Rome  finds 
not  only  her  pleasure,  but  her  enormous  gains  of  "  gold, 
and  silver,  and  precious  stones,  and  of  pearls,"  and 
all  merchandize  of  pomp,  and  pride,  and  luxury,  in  that 
very  unrighteousness  of  creature  and  image  and  picture 
worship,  continually  putting  forth  pretended  miracles  in 
its  support,  and  arguments  than  which  the  heathen  Ro- 
mans had  none  worse  for  their  idolatry ;  so  that  if  ever 
the  "Father's  house"  was  "made  a  house  of  merchan- 
dize" in  the  traffic  of  an  idolatrous  priestcraft ;  if  ever 
there  wasa  house  of  idols  on  earth,  it  is  in  that  Church. 
And  can  that  Church  live  ?  Will  not  God  make  good 
his  word  against  the  graven  images  ? 

Separate  from  all  testimony  of  prophecy,  can  we  doubt 
that  "  desolations  are  determined"  on  that  rebellious  city? 
Is  there  no  voice  from  the  desolations  of  ancient  Babylon, 
telling  what  must  be  prepared  for  the  modern?  Can  we 
forget  those  words — "  Son  of  man,  these  men  have  set 
up  their  idols  in  their  heart,  and  put  the  stumbling-block 
of  their  iniquity  before  their  face :  should  I  be  inquired 
of  at  all  by  them  ?  I  the  Lord  will  answer  him  that 
cometh,  according  to  the  multitude  of  his  idols.  And  I 
will  set  my  face  against  that  man,  and  I  will  make  him  a 
sign  and  a  proverb,  and  I  will  cut  him  off  from  the  midst 
of  my  people;  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord."| 
Under  the  sound  of  these  words,  we  ask,  if  the  Church 

*  Romans  i.  23,  28.  +  Ezekiel  xiv.  3-5. 


THE   POWER  OF   THE   WORD   OF   GOD.  17 

which  they  so  awfully  condemn,  is  to  be  allowed  the  arro- 
gant claim  of  being  exclusively  the  Temple  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  where  alone  we  can  learn  to  "  worship  God  in  spirit 
and  in  truth ;"  where  alone  we  are  to  learn  his  law  and 
acquire  the  heart  of  a  true  obedience  to  his  command- 
ments ?  Can  it  be  believed,  that  with  a  conscience  so 
polluted  by  an  evident,  habitual,  cherished  iniquity,  in 
such  plain  contempt  of  God's  word,  and  bound,  moreover, 
to  its  vindication,  by  her  own  most  solemn  decrees  and  her 
abounding  spiritual  merchandize,  so  that  to  renounce  it,  she 
must  not  only  abandon  a  great  source  of  her  wealth,  but 
humble  herself  to  the  lowest  confession  and  self-abasement 
before  God  and  man ;  can  it  be  believed,  that  in  her  is 
to  be  found  the  spirit  of  meekness,  and  simplicity,  and 
purity,  and  prayerfulness,  for  the  interpretation  of  the 
the  very  word  which  so  denounces  her  favorite  sin  ?  Must 
she  not,  in  self-defence,  bar  up  her  corridors  against 
the  entrance  of  that  word  which  giveth  light  and  under- 
standing to  the  simple,  lest  even  the  most  simple  should 
find  her  out?  If  the  Spirit  may  be  grieved  by  any  of 
you,  so  that  he  will  strive  with  you  no  more,  must  he  not 
be  grieved  by  such  an  idolatrous  Church,  so  that  he  wiS 
depart  and  leave  it  to  wander  on  from  sin  to  sin,  and  from 
darkness  to  darkness?  Did  God  let  Ephraim  alone, 
because  he  was  "joined  to  his  idols;"  and  shall  we  suppose 
the  same  spiritual  adultery  will  not  produce  the  same 
spiritual  abandonment  of  a  Church  that  hath  so  abused  a 
light  of  which  Ephraim  had  scarcely  the  dawn  ?  Oh  1 
give  me  the  most  unlettered  reader  of  the  Bible,  and  let 
him  only  have  simplicity,  and  singleness,  and  earnestness 
of  desire  to  know  and  do  the  will  of  God,  to  know  and 
2 


18  SERMON   I. 

follow  Christ,  to  know  and  abandon  sin;  let  him  be  also 
a  man  of  earnest  prayer  for  the  teaching  of  the  Spirit, 
and  he  shall  give  you  a  far  better  interpretation  of  God's 
word  as  to  all  the  vital  matters  of  Christian  life  and  hope, 
than  is  ever  to  come  from  a  Church  that  is  joined  to  her 
idols  by  decrees  which  she  cannot  annul  without  annihi- 
lating her  proudest  claims  and  humbling  herself  to  the 
lowest  abasement.  He  at  least  will  know  the  truth, 
though  it  may  be  but  its  alphabet ;  while  she  certainly 
will  deny  the  truth  against  which  she  is  so  permanently 
pledged. 

Witness  that  man  of  God  and  bold  soldier  and  apostle 
of  the  Reformation;  a  young  man  and  simple  in  knowl- 
edge, finding  in  the  dark  and  dust  of  his  monastery  that 
neglected,  unknown  Bible,  reading  and  giving  entrance  at 
once  to  its  word  into  his  hungry  heart — see  how,  as  he 
reads,  God  giveth  him  understanding ;  how  the  mind  of 
Luther  is  emerging  out  of  the  chaotic  darkness  of  the 
darkest  ages  of  the  Romish  Church,  as  that  word  giveth 
him  light.  But  still  his  deliverance  is  not  complete.  See 
him  now  in  "the  holy  city,"  going  about  in  his  own  igno- 
rance to  establish  his  own  righteousness  by  works  of  bodily 
penance.  A  single  verse  finds  entrance  into  his  burdened 
heart — "  The  just  shall  live  ~by  faith.'''  It  scatters  the 
night;  it  bursts  his  chains;  it  creates  the  great  Reformer; 
it  lays  the  corner-stone  of  the  Reformation  in  the  great 
corner-stone  of  the  Gospel — Justification  ly  faith  through 
the  righteousness  of  Christ  accounted  of  God  to  the 
believer.  Then  began  that  great  light,  the  revival  of  what 
ages  of  corruption  had  well  nigh  extinguished — the  Pro- 
testant Reformation,  to  which,  under  God,  we  in  this  land 


THE   TRUE    CHURCH,    THE    WORLD 's   LIGHT.  19 

are  so  immeasurably  indebted.  Its  whole  life  was  the 
blessing  of  the  Spirit  of  God  on  the  unsullied  Bible — the 
free  reading,  the  simple  teaching  of  the  Bible.  How  won- 
derfully  did  its  entrance  at  that  period  among  the  nations 
of  Europe,  long  sitting  in  darkness,  under  the  bonds,  and 
superstitions,  and  idolatry  of  Popery,  give  them  light ! 
How  wonderfully  did  it  give  understanding  to  the  simple ! 
What  a  glorious  revival  of  gospel-faith  and  life  appeared, 
in  immediate  connection  with,  and  as  the  direct  result, 
under  the  Holy  Ghost,  of  the  free  publication  and  reading 
of  his  word  !  "  The  seed"  was,  and  is,  and  ever  shall  be, 
the  ivord.  I  know  not  a  more  perfect  expression  in  a  few 
words  of  the  very  heart  and  soul  of  the  Protestant  faith 
and  work  than  that.  "  The  seed  is  the  ^vord"  said  the 
Lord,  when  his  kingdom  was  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed. 
The  seed  is  the  ivord,  said  the  intrepid  Luther,  when  the 
kingdom  had  to  be  planted  almost  anew.  The  seed  is  the 
wordy  said  those  men  of  faith  and  love  who  founded  our 
Bible  Societies,  that  every  family  on  earth  might  be  pos- 
sessed of  the  Scriptures.  The  seed  is  the  ^vord,  say  our 
diligent  steam-presses,  hastening  to  multiply  copies  of  the 
Bible,  and  the  many  and  various  Protestant  agencies  in 
almost  all  lands,  to  spread  and  teach  them,  and  the  hun- 
dred and  fifty  or  sixty  languages  and  dialects  in  which 
Protestants  are  sending  the  Scriptures  to  Jew  and  Gen- 
tile, bond  and  free.  The  seed  is  the  wordy  say  all  our 
Protestant  Missionaries,  making  it  their  first  effort  when 
they  go  into  a  heathen  land,  or  among  the  Jews,  or  where 
Romanism  reigns  and  darkens  the  land,  or  among  any 
people,  to  see  that  the  Scriptures  are  in  the  hands  of  the 
people,  in  their  own  tongue  wherein  they  were  born. 


20  SERMON  I. 

The  precise  opposite  is  the  very  embodiment  of  Roman- 
ism. Not  only  is  the  word  not  the  seed  from  which  grows 
that  tree,  but  she  professes  no  such  principle  as  would  lead 
her  to  place  any  value  on  the  dissemination  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, no  matter  in  what  version  or  tongue. 

Do  Romish  missionaries  translate  the  Scriptures?  How 
many  of  the  versions  now  known  are  by  the  labors  of 
such  hands?  Where  is  the  land  in  which  such  laborers 
are  known  to  be  promoting,  urging,  facilitating  the  reading 
of  the  word?  Need  we  say  that  such  works  have  no  part 
in  the  propagation  of  religion  by  the  Papal  hierarchy? 
that  not  only  has  she  no  desire  that  her  people  shall  have 
free  access  to  the  Scriptures  in  their  own  vernacular 
tongue,  but  that  she  prohibits  it  where  she  can,  under  her 
severest  penalties,  and  never  allows  it  even  in  appearance, 
but  where  the  time  and  the  place  make  it  impolitic  to  do 
otherwise  ?  Search  through  the  holy  city,  her  vaunted 
centre  of  light  and  faith,  for  such  a  phenomenon  as  a 
Bible  on  sale;  ask  her  mind  on  this  subject,  from  the  pe- 
riod of  WicklifFe's  translation  of  the  Vulgate  into  English, 
or  the  burning  of  Tyndale's  New  Testament,  or  the  epistle 
of  the  present  Pontiff  from  his  late  retreat  under  the  pro- 
tection of  Naples,  addressed  to  the  prelates  of  Italy,  or 
the  recent  sufferings  of  God's  people  in  the  prisons  of 
Tuscany.  Should  that  dark  power  obtain  the  ascendancy 
it  claims,  and  once  had  in  all  Europe,  think  ye  that  in 
this  land,  a  single  house  would  have  in  its  own  language 
the  Book  of  God,  but  by  express  license  of  a  priest ;  or 
that  persecution  for  reading  the  Scriptures  would  not  put 
on  the  same  aspect  as  that  which  now  makes  that  duty 
and  privilege  so  criminal  and  perilous  in  Italy? 


THE   POWER    OF   THE   WORD   OF   GOD.  21 

But  why  all  this  in  a  Church  professing  a  Bible-faith 
and  a  Bible-mission  ?  Why  should  it  be  more  tolerable 
to  Romish  powers  to  read  any  book  of  vile  licentiousness 
of  morals,  or  lead  a  life  of  odious  profligacy,  than  to  read 
the  Scriptures?  You  answer  justly,  it  is  the  dread  of 
their  confronting  testimony.  It  is  the  unclean  spirit 
among  the  tombs,  crying  out :  "  What  have  I  to  do  with 
thee — torment  me  not." 

But  there  is  another  answer.  Your  Bible  societies,  your 
Missionaries  translating  and  circulating  the  Scriptures ; 
your  zealous  agents  endeavoring  to  place  a  Bible  in  every 
house  of  every  land,  are  stimulated  by  the  one  great  princi- 
ple that  the  seed  is  the  word — sanctification  is  through  the 
truth — and  the  ivord  is  truth.  No,  says  Rome.  The 
seed  is  the  sacrament,  not  the  word — sanctification  is 
through  the  office  of  the  priest,  dispensing  the  grace  of 
the  Church.  The  truth,  except  just  to  bring  you  to  the 
Church,  and  the  priest,  and  the  sacraments,  has  nothing 
to  do  with  your  sanctification.  This  is  her  great  central 
principle.  Here  stands  the  citadel  of  her  hopes.  On  this 
she  plants  her  engines  of  war.  By  this  she  has  drawn 
the  millions  of  the  ignorant  and  superstitious  to  her  feet, 
and  bound  them  in  chains  of  iron,  and  made  merchandize 
of  them,  and  made  herself  rich  in  the  traffic  of  her  priest- 
craft. Take  away  this,  and  her  power  and  wealth  are 
ended.  Nothing  can  be  more  directly  at  war  with  this, 
both  in  principle  and  operation,  in  the  basis  it  goes  on, 
and  in  the  light  it  spreads  in  its  march,  than  the  great  zeal 
which  God  has  raised  up  in  these  days  to  translate  and 
circulate  the  Scriptures.  Nothing  must  Rome  be  expected 
move  thoroughly  to  hate  ;  nothing  is  she  more  bound  by 


22  SERMON    I. 

her  own  principles,  to  destroy,  as  the  very  antagonism  of 
herself,  than  our  Bible  societies,  sending  out  to  all  people 
the  Scriptures.  I  cannot  imagine  a  spectacle  more  odious 
to  the  genuine  spirit  of  the  Romish  system  and  priest- 
hood, than  such  an  institution  as  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society,  so  mighty  in  patronage,  so  vast  in  opera- 
tion, so  increasing  in  strength ;  its  vast  confederation  of 
auxiliary  societies;  its  great  catalogue  of  translations;  its 
issues  amounting  from  its  first  days,  to  about  twenty- 
seven  millions  of  copies  of  the  Scriptures — all  because 
66 the  seed  is  the  ivord"  and  sanctification  is  "through  the 
truth:' 

Brethren,  what  an  account  we  shall  have  to  render  for 
the  use  we  make  of  the  Scriptures!  Do  we  give  the 
word  of  God  a  free  entrance  to  our  hearts?  "Behold! 
I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock."  Do  our  hearts  answer — 
Come  in,  thou  messenger  of  God,  minister  of  light  and  of 
blessing,  come  in  to  the  secret  place  of  my  thoughts  and 
affections;  converse  with  me,  admonish  me,  humble  me, 
correct  me,  warn  me,  take  away  my  hope,  if  it  be  not  the 
good  hope  that  maketh  not  ashamed,  that  I  may  seek  a 
better ;  bring  all  that  is  within  me  into  captivity  to  the 
obedience  of  Christ!  The  spirit  which  thus  invites  and 
welcomes  the  word  of  God,  is  the  spirit  that  makes  the 
wise,  and  the  proud,  and  the  great,  to  be  the  simple ;  and 
without  which  the  poorest  and  most  ignorant  cannot  be 
the  simple  ones,  to  whom  the  word  of  God  will  give  the 
saving  light.  It  is  he  that  is  a  little  child  in  such  simpli- 
city, whatever  he  be  in  strength  of  mind,  in  wealth  or 
poverty  of  knowledge,  in  elevation  or  obscurity,  who,  by 
the  light  of  God,  and  through  the  mediation  of  Jesus,  will 


THE   POWER    OF   THE   WORD    OF    GOD.  23 

enter  into  the  kingdom.  It  is  he  who  does  not  thus  be- 
come as  a  little  child,  that  can  never  enter  that  kingdom. 
Ah !  how  the  want  of  that  simplicity  accounts  for  the 
difficulties  which  some  men  find  in  the  Scriptures,  and 
for  the  darkness  that  rests  upon  so  many  minds  as  to  the 
true  knowledge  of  God  and  of  themselves,  even  after  much 
reading  of  the  Scriptures.  The  entrance  of  the  word 
giveth  understanding  "to  the  simple"  to  "the  poor  in 
spirit,"  to  them  that  are  "followers  of  God  as  dear  chil- 
dren," to  them  who  "receive  with  meekness  the  engrafted 
word"  and  strive  in  the  Lord's  help,  to  be  doers,  as  well 
as  hearers  or  readers  of  its  precepts.  "Thou  hast  hid 
these  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent  (those  who  trust 
in  their  own  understanding)  and  hast  revealed  them  unto 
babes." 

But  one  thing  is  carefully  to  be  borne  in  mind.  The 
power  to  give  light  is  not  in  the  word.  As  the  word  of 
truth,  it  can  teach  truth  in  the  letter,  but  to  teach  it  so 
that  it  shall  be  spiritually  discerned,  and  so  that  the 
learner  shall  have  that  knowledge  of  God,  and  of  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ,  which  is  life  eternal,  is  the  office  of  "the 
Spirit  of  truth,"  who  is  also  "the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ 
Jesus,"  The  Holy  Ghost  is  come  for  that  very  end — 
to  lead  us  into  all  saving  truth — into  such  views  of  it, 
that  our  hearts  shall  receive,  and  love,  and  rejoice  in  it, 
and  adore  the  riches  of  divine  grace  made  known  therein. 
When  he  shines  on  the  word,  and  into  the  heart  of  the 
reader  by  it,  then  its  entrance  giveth  light.  The  Scrip- 
tures are  then  an  illuminated  mine  full  of  precious  things. 
Where  the  natural  man  walks  unconscious  of  the  riches 
around  him,  seeing  nothing  but  the  forms  which  contain 


24  SEEMON   I. 

the  hid  treasures,  the  mind  enlightened  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  beholds  "wondrous  things,"  and  exclaims,  "thy 
testimonies  are  wonderful ;"  "how  love  I  thy  law."  But 
one  thing  is  needful  here.  Prayer — Prayer !  We  must 
call  upon  God  then,  to  enable  us  to  use  this  word. 
"Open  thou  mine  eyes,  that  I  may  behold  wondrous 
things  out  of  thy  law,"  must  be  our  prayer.  The  need  of 
God's  help  must  be  felt ;  the  utter  insufficiency  of  our 
own  understandings  spiritually  to  discern,  must  be  felt^ 
We  must  come  to  Jesus,  the  true  light — and  ask  continu- 
ally that  his  Spirit  may  be  given  to  us.  Read  and  pray ; 
hear  and  pray — are  exhortations  founded  on  our  need  as 
truly  as  "  watch  and  pray."  "  If  thou  criest  after  know- 
ledge, and  liftest  up  thy  voice  for  understanding,"  is  a 
condition  of  finding  the  knowledge  of  God,  as  much  as  "if 
thou  incline  thine  ear,"  and  "  apply  thine  heart,"  and 
"  seekest  as  for  silver,  and  searchest  as  for  hid  treasures." 
Brethren,  do  you  thus  feel  your  need  of  divine  help  in 
endeavoring  so  to  use  the  word  that,  read  or  heard,  it 
shall  make  you  wise  unto  salvation  ?  Do  you  thus  call 
upon  God  to  take  of  the  things  that  are  his,  and  show 
them  unto  you?  The  Lord  give  us  all  richly  to  expe- 
rience the  power  of  his  Spirit,  through  the  word,  to  give 
us  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  his  glory  in  Jesus  Christ, 
and  to  make  us  meet  to  be  partakers  of  the  inheritance 
of  his  saints  !  Amen. 


SERMON  II. 


THE   TRUE   CHURCH,   THE   WORLD'S   LIGHT. 


MATTHEW  v.   14. 
"  Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world." 

You  will  immediately  recognize  in  these  words  a  part 
of  our  Lord's  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  To  whom  were 
they  addressed  ?  To  Ministers  of  his  word,  as  such  ?  We 
answer,  that  as  yet  he  had  not  ordained  his  Apostles  or 
Ministers.  Some  of  those  whom  he  afterwards  ordained 
had  now  been  called,  with  reference  to  their  becoming  his 
Apostles,  and  were  now  his  followers;  but  as  yet  they 
were  simply  disciples.  To  whom  then  were  these  words 
addressed  ?  The  answer  is  in  the  first  verse  of  the  chap- 
ter. "Seeing  the  multitude,  he  went  up  into  a  mountain, 
and  when  he  was  set,  his  disciples  came  unto  him,  and  he 
opened  his  mouth  and  taught  them,  saying,"  &c.  The 
text  is  part  of  what  he  then  taught.  So  that  it  was  to  his 
disciples,  as  such,  without  particular  reference  to  the  office 
of  the  ministry,  that  he  said  "  ye  are  the  light  of  the 
•world"  In  this  sense  we  shall  use  these  words  in  this 
discourse,  considering  them  as  teaching  all  who  profess  to 
be  disciples  of  Christ,  what  they  are  expected,  individu- 
ally, to  be  towards  the  world,  according  to  their  several 
positions-  and  opportunities;  teaching,  also,  what  is  the 
office  and  duty  of  that  wide-spread  community  and  rela- 
tionship in  which,  under  the  name  of  his  Church,  the  Lord 


26  SERMON    II. 

Jesus  Christ,  by  the  outward  and  visible  bond  of  sacra- 
ments, has  associated  his  professing  people.  To  the 
whole  visible  Church,  in  all  its  several  parts,  as  occupying 
different  countries,  cities  and  villages ;  to  all  the  several 
individuals  of  which  the  Church  is  any  where  composed, 
ministers  and  laity,  the  Lord  now  addresses  the  words  of 
the  text,  "  Ye  are  the  light  of  the  ivorld"  As  thus 
addressed,  without  reference  to  the  faithfulness  or 
unfaithfulness  of  Christians,  the  steadfastness  or  the 
apostacy  of  any  particular  section  of  the  visible  Church, 
these  words  express  simply  what  the  Lord  expects  of  all 
that  are  called  by  his  name,  individually  and  collect- 
ively— and  what  they  will  be,  so  far  as  they  walk  accord- 
ing to  their  high  calling  and  profession.  But  they  may 
grievously  dishonor  their  calling.  They  may  be  Chris- 
tians but  in  name  and  form.  They  may  receive  the  grace 
of  God  in  vain.  If  their  lamps  did  ever  burn,  they  may 
have  quite  gone  out.  Whole  communities  of  nominal 
Christians  may  be  in  this  state.  Churches,  once  faithful, 
may  have  wholly  departed  from  the  faith,  and  still  remain 
in  name  and  form  Christian  Churches.  Their  duty  is  the 
same  as  ever,  to  be  the  light  of  the  world;  but  they  are 
only  adding  to  its  darkness  and  increasing  its  delusions. 
Addressed  to  faithful,  consistent,  disciples  of  Christ, 
those  who  belong  to  that  invisible,  living  Church,  which 
is  simply  and  exclusively  the  blessed  company  of  all  God's 
faithful  people,  under  whatever  name  or  form  ;  the  Church 
of  the  promises ;  the  Church,  which  is  the  temple  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  because  in  every  one  of  its  members  is  the 
Spirit  of  Christ ;  to  that  Church,  the  words  of  the  text 
express  not  only  what  it  ought  to  be,  but  what  indeed  it 


THE  TRUE   CHURCH,   THE   WORLD'S   LIGHT.  27 

is,  "the  light  of  the  world"  All  the  spiritual  light  that  ever 
shines  on  the  world  comes  to  it,  under  God,  and  by  his 
appointment,  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Church, 
thus  viewed.  And  a  time  cometh,  when,  according  to  the 
promise  of  God,  that  blessed  company  shall  be  so  enlarged, 
and  in  its  various  means  and  agencies  shall  so  extend 
itself  among  all  nations,  and  shall  be  made  so  mighty 
through  the  power  of  God  abiding  on  it,  that  it  will  be 
literally  light  to  all  the  world.* 

If  it  require  a  strong  faith  in  the  promise  of  God  to 
expect  such  a  day,  seeing  what  the  Church  now  is ;  what 
faith  must  it  have  required  when  Jesus  uttered  the 
words  before  us  ?  What  a  remarkable  declaration  it 
was,  considering  the  time  and  circumstances !  Never  had 
a  moral  darkness  so  gross,  so  hopeless,  covered  the  earth. 
Truth,  concerning  God  and  his  will,  seemed  almost  lost. 
The  lamps  in  the  golden  candlestick  of  the  Jewish  Church 
had  nearly  all  gone  out.  The  Gentile  world  was  all  night. 
None  then  so  much  as  dreamed  of  a  power  that  could 
break  that  night.  The  wisest  of  heathen  sages  hoped 
for  nothing  better  than  a  faint  ray  by  which  to  see  for 
themselves,  but  nothing  for  others.  Jesus,  on  a  moun- 
tain of  Israel,  has  before  him  the  little  company  of  his 
disciples.  Some  are  fishermen,  all  of  obscure  condition, 
all  from  a  nation  oppressed  and  despised  by  the  rulers  of 
the  earth — it  is  the  beginning  of  his  Church.  To  that 
feeble  band  on  the  mountain  top,  he  says,  "ye  are  the 
light  of  the  ivorlcV  How  it  must  have  astonished  them ! 
How  in  the  infancy  of  their  faith,  it  must  have  alarmed 
them,  by  the  responsibility  it  involved  !  How  impossible 

*Isai.  cli.  Ix. 


28  SERMON   II. 

it  must  have  seemed,  except  as  their  minds  took  refuge 
in  the  power  of  God !  It  was  as  if  Jesus  had  taken  a 
straw  and  set  it  for  a  taper,  and  said,  this  shall  give  light 
to  all  nations.  But  "he  spake  as  one  having  authority" — 
authority  over  all  things  to  make  good  his  word.  In  the 
beginning  of  the  creation,  it  was  he  who  "  commanded 
the  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness,"  and  suspended  the 
sun  in  the  firmament  of  heaven  to  be  the  light  of  our 
natural  day.  It  was  as  easy  for  him,  from  that  little 
beginning  of  disciples,  to  raise  up  a  church  which  would 
prove  the  regeneration  of  the  earth.  And  how  marvel- 
lously were  his  words  fulfilled!  Before  the  last  of  that 
little  company  had  finished  his  course,  how  literally  had 
their  ministry  been  made  the  light  of  the  world.  What 
nation  was  there  which  their  labors  had  not  penetrated ; 
what  fortress  of  the  powers  of  darkness  into  which  they 
had  not  carried  their  lamp  ;  what  cavern  of  iniquity  out 
of  which  they  had  not  led  some  children  of  night  into 
the  knowledge  and  peace  of  God  ? 

Let  that  first  wonderful  work  of  the  Church  encourage 
us.  Immense  is  still  the  reign  of  darkness  in  this  world. 
Utterly  without  strength  is  the  present  Church,  of  itself, 
to  overcome  it.  But  now,  as  much  as  in  the  beginning, 
the  Lord  says  to  the  blessed  company  of  his  faithful 
people,  "Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world."  Unbelief  looks 
at  them,  and  says  hoiv  can  it  be!  But  faith  looks  unto 
Jesus,  and  remembering  "  the  years  of  ancient  time," 
says,  Thou  knowest.  Thine  is  the  power.  Hast  thou 
said,  and  shall  it  not  be  done  ?  Zion  will  fulfill  her 
destiny.  "  The  righteousness  thereof  shall  go  forth  as 
brightness,  and  her  salvation  as  a  lamp  that  burneth." 
In  the  further  exhibition  of  the  text,  let  us  consider, 


THE   TRUE   CHURCH,   THE   WORLD'S   LIGHT.  29 

I.  The  position  and  office  here  assigned  to  the  Church 
of  Christ  on  earth. 

You  remember  how  emphatically  the  Saviour  asserted 
of  himself,  exactly  what  he  here  declares  of  his  people  . 
"I am  the  light  of  the  world"*  These  words  indicate  that 
Christ  is  the  world's  only  light.  And  the  similar  words 
addressed  to  his  people  indicate  that  they  are  the  world's 
only  light.  And  how  are  these  apparently  contradictory 
declarations  to  be  reconciled  ?  We  answer, 

To  this  benighted  world  there  is  but  one  sun  as  the 
source  of  spiritual  light.  But  he  hath  gone  from  the 
view  of  men  and  doth  not  shine  directly  upon  the  world. 
There  are  intermediate  agencies,  secondary  lights ;  there 
are  planets  and  satellites ;  there  is  a  system  of  dependent 
and  associated  instruments,  which  keep  their  circuit  around 
that  great  central  orb,  held  therein  only  by  his  power,  and 
shining  only  in  his  light.  Perfectly  dark  in  themselves; 
only  as  they  receive  light  from  him  are  they  the  light  of 
the  world.  Thus  the  Church,  in  its  ministry,  and  in  all  the 
life  and  works  of  its  people,  is  to  Christ,  what  moon  and 
planets  are  to  the  sun.  The  world  receives  from  them,  as 
they  receive  from  Christ.  They  are  the  light  of  the  world 
as  the  only  visible  light.  He  is  the  light  of  the  world  as 
the  only  original  light.  And  thus  we  harmonize  the  two 
declarations.  Of  himself  Jesus  speaks  as  the  author  and 
giver.  "  I  am  the  light."  To  his  Church,  he  speaks  as  his 
constituted  instrument  and  medium.  "  Ye  are  the  light." 

This  is  not  an  illustration  of  our  own  invention.  It  is 
precisely  that  of  the  Scriptures.  The  prophet  Isaiah, 
addressing  Zion,  says,  "  Arise,  shine,  for  thy  light  is  come, 

*John  viii.  12. 


30  SERMON   II. 

and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is  risen  upon  thee.*  John,  in 
the  opening  of  the  Apocalypse,  beheld  in  vision  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  churches,  under  the  emblem  of  "  seven 
golden  candlesticks,"  instruments  of  light  but  not  its 
containers.  In  the  midst  of  them  "there  walked  one  like 
unto  the  Son  of  Man,  whose  countenance  was  as  the  sun 
shineth  in  his  strength."  From  him  came  the  light  which 
seemed  to  dwell  on  the  lamps  of  those  candlesticks.  In 
his  hand  were  seven  stars ;  as  the  sun  holds  the  planets 
before  his  face,  that  he  may  shine  on  them,  and  by  them 
on  the  world.  And  these  stars,  John  was  told,  represented 
the  ministry  of  the  churches,  f 

But  the  most  remarkable  use  of  this  method  of  illustra- 
tion is  in  another  part  of  the  Revelation  of  St.  John.  He 
beheld,  and  "  there  appeared  a  great  wonder  in  Heaven, 
a  woman  clothed  with  the  sun,  and  the  moon  under  her 
feet,  and  upon  her  head  a  crown  of  twelve  stars."  J 

Among  interpreters  of  the  Apocalypse,  there  is  entire 
agreement  that  under  this  symbolic  appearance  is  repre- 
sented the  true  Church  on  earth,  in  its  purity  and  faith- 
fulness, doing  its  appropriate  work  in  the  world,  and 
holding  its  proper  relation  to  Christ.  This  is  evident 
from  the  children  of  the  woman  being  described  as  those 
"which  keep  the  commandment  of  God  and  have  the  testi- 
timony  of  Jesus  Christ." ||  Now  observe  the  description. 
The  ornament  of  her  head  was  a  crown  of  stars.  Under 
her  feet  was  the  shining  moon.  Thus  was  indicated  the 
Church's  office  as  a  light-bearer  to  the  world,  but  only  a 
bearer,  not  the  fountain ;  the  medium,  not  the  origin  ;  as 

*  lx.  Isai.  1.  fRev.  i.  12-20. 

J  Rev.  xii.  1.     ||  Verse  17.     The  Church  is  called  "the  Bride,  the  Lamb's 
-wife."    Rev.  xxi.  9. 


THE   TRUE   CHURCH,   THE   WORLD'S   LIGHT.  31 

the  moon  and  planets  are  only  the  reflectors  by  which  the 
unseen  sun  casts  his  radiance  on  the  earth.  But  whence 
came  the  light  of  that  moon  and  those  stars  ?  She  was 
" clothed  with  the  sun"  In  that  all-investing  light,  she 
was  all  light ;  her  head,  her  feet,  her  raiment,  all  did  shine 
as  the  sun.  I  need  not  tell  you  that  the  sun  thus  invest- 
ing the  Church,  represents  him  whose  countenance  John 
beheld  "  as  the  sun  shineth  in  his  strength,"  and  whose 
proclamation  is,  "  I  am  the  light  of  the  world."  But  that 
bright  form  was  seen,  where  all  luminous  bodies,  whose 
office  it  is  to  shine  on  this  earth,  are  stationed,  in  the  firma- 
ment of  heaven.  The  vision,  therefore,  whatever  other 
instructions  it  was  intended  to  give,  is  an  impressive 
exhibition  of  the  great  office  of  the  Church  on  earth,  and 
of  what  a  faithful  Church  must  be ;  the  bearer  of  the 
knowledge  of  Christ  to  all  people — the  light  of  the  world. 

But  in  order  to  set  forth  the  more  distinctly  this 
striking  representation  of  the  faithful  Church,  let  me 
turn  your  attention,  by  way  of  contrast,  to  another 
symbol  in  the  Revelation  of  St.  John,  of  a  Church,  but 
a  fallen  Church. 

Nothing  can  be  more  evident  than  that  the  Scriptures, 
especially  the  epistles  of  St.  Paul,  and  the  Apocalypse  of 
St.  John,  contain  predictions,  in  very  impressive  terms, 
of  a  great  apostacy  from  the  truth  and  spirit  of  the 
Gospel,  which  after  the  Apostolic  age  would  appear  in  the 
visible  Church ;  an  apostacy  which,  taking  its  rise  at  a  very 
early  period,  and  growing  from  age  to  age  in  stature  and 
development,  would  at  lengtli  assume  a  shape  and  position 
of  great  prominence  and  power.  It  would  subdue  to  its 
dominion,  by  signs  and  wonders,  by  seductive  delusions, 


32  SERMON   II. 

or  terrific  persecutions,  a  large  part  of  the  professedly 
Christian  world.  It  would  put  forth  the  most  arrogant 
and  exclusive  claims  to  dominion  and  authority.  It  would 
usurp  the  prerogative  of  God ;  and  sit  in  his  Church  as  if 
if  it  were  God,  changing  his  laws,  absolving  from  their 
obligation,  substituting  its  own.  It  would  be  especially 
marked  as  a  persecutor  of  the  children  of  the  faithful 
Church,  of  those  who,  rejecting  its  unauthorized  com- 
mands and  testimonies,  should  "  keep  the  commandments 
of  God  and  the  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ."*  You  find 
such  a  prediction  in  the  second  chapter  of  the  second 
epistle  to  the  Thessalonians.  Those  Christians  had 
been  troubled  in  mind,  concerning  the  second  coming  of 
Christ.  Paul  writes  to  them  thus :  "  Let  no  man  deceive 
you  by  any  means ;  for  that  day  shall  not  come,  except 
there  come  a  falling  aivay  first,  (an  apostacy)  and  that 
man  of  sin  be  revealed,  the  son  of  perdition,  who  opposeth 
and  exalteth  himself  above  all  that  is  called  God  or  that 
is  worshipped ;  so  that  he,  as  God,  sitteth  in  the  temple 
of  God,  showing  himself  that  he  is  God."  The  temple 
here  means,  of  course,  the  Christian  Church.  Sitting 
therein  as  God,  means,  claiming  dominion  and  authority 
in  the  Church  as  God.  This  "Man  of  sin,"  Paul  next 
called  "  the  mystery  of  iniquity"  and  said  it  had  even  in 
his  time  begun  to  work,  (v.  7.)  Its  coming,  he  said, 
would  be  "  after  the  ivorJdng  of  Satan,  ivith  all  poiver,  and 
signs,  and  lying  wonders,  and  ivith  all  deceivableness  of 
unrighteousness"  It  would  continue  until  the  second 
coming  of  Christ  and  would  be  destroyed  thereby. 

*  See  Dan.  vii.  20,  21,  25,  compared  with  Rev.  xvii. ;  see  also  2  Thess.  ii. 
3-10  ;  and  I  Tim.  iv.  1-3. 


THE   TEUE   CHURCH,    THE   WORLD'S   LIGHT.  33 

"  Consumed"  saith  the  Apostle,  "by  the  spirit  of  his 
mouthy  and  destroyed  by  the  brightness  of  his  appearing" 
(v.  8.)  Daniel,  predicting  the  same  Man  of  Sin,  under 
the  symbol  of  a  great  ecclesiastical  ruler,  says,  "  He  shall 
speak  great  words  against  the  Most  High,  and  shall  wear 
out  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  and  think  to  change 
times  and  laws."* 

But  what  we  find  in  St.  Paul,  under  the  names  of  the 
"Man  of  Sin,"  and  "Mystery  of  Iniquity,"  St.  John,  in 
the  Apocalypse,  exhibits  under  another  form.  The 
faithful  Church  is  the  Bride  of  Christ.  He  has  already 
exhibited  it  under  the  form  of  a  woman  arrayed  in  the 
light  of  the  Lord  as  her  wedding  garment,  and  crowned 
therewith  as  her  glory.  He  now  exhibits,  under  the  like 
form,  but  far  other  raiment,  an  apostate  Church,  which 
pretends  to  be  the  Bride  of  Christ.  Let  me  give  you  his 
description  :  "1  saw  a  woman  sit  upon  a  scarlet  colored 
beast,  full  of  names  of  blasphemy,  having  seven  heads 
and  ten  horns,  and  the  woman  was  arrayed  in  purple  and 
sca'rlet  color,  and  decked  with  gold  and  precious  stones, 
having  a  golden  cup  in  her  hand,  full  of  abominations ; 
and  upon  her  forehead  was  a  name  written,  MYSTERY, 
BABYLON  THE  GREAT,  THE  MOTHER  OP  HARLOTS,  AND  ABOMI- 
NATIONS OF  THE  EARTH  ;  and  I  saw  the  woman  drunk  with 
the  blood  of  the  saints  and  of  the  martyrs  of  Jesus." 
Her  throne  was  upon  "  many  waters,"  which  were  inter- 
preted to  St.  John  as  representing  "peoples,  and  multi- 
tudes, and  nations,  and  tongues,"  a  vast  dominion  of 
nations.!  Now  that  all  these  predictions  indicate  a  great 
Church  apostacy,  is  too  universally  understood  among  the 

*  Dan.  vii.  25.  f  Rev.  xvii.  3-6  and  15. 

3 


34  SERMON   II. 

learned,  as  well  Romish  as  Protestant,  to  need  any  argu- 
ment.*    We  have  no  time,  nor  has  it  anything  to  do  with 
our  present  object,  to  attempt  a  particular  interpretation. 
But  we  are  speaking  of  the  faithful  Church  as  the  light  of 
the  world,  and  we  wish  to  illustrate  that  aspect  by  the 
contrast  of  an  apostate  Church.     Let  us  then  compare 
the  two  as  exhibited  in  the  two  symbols  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse.    Each  is  represented  under  the  form  of  a  woman. 
One  is  the  true  bride  of  Christ,  the  other  only  a  pretender 
to  that  character.      Both   are   magnificently  apparelled. 
But  how  vast  the  difference  in  the  style  of  their  adorning ! 
The  true  bride  is  arrayed  in  the  simplicity,  and  purity, 
and   heavenly   beauty   of  the   light ;    clothed   with   the 
splendor  of  the  sun ;   the  crescent   moon   as   a   sandal 
adorns  her  feet;  a  circle  of  stars  is  the  ornament  of  her 
brow.    Nothing  but  shining  light  is  her  glory,  as  becomes 
the  symbol  of  that  which  is  ordained  to  be  the  light  of 
the  world.     The  other  is  gorgeously  apparelled,  indeed, 
but  her  ornaments  are  all  earthly,  such  as  worldly  pride 
and  pomp  put  on  ;  the  meretricious  beauty  of  scarlet,  and 
purple,  and  precious  stones,  and  gold,  such  as  kings  of  the 
earth  have  given  her,  and  the  "  peoples  and  multitudes," 
over  whom  she  rules,  are  attracted  by ;    as  poor  a  substi- 
tute for  a  vesture  and  crown  of  light,  as  paste  for  the 
genuine  pearl. 

Again :  in  the  symbol  of  the  faithful  Church  we  see  a 
constant  glorying  in  Christ  alone.  The  light  that  adorns 
her  is  not  her  own  ;  she  is  clothed  with  the  sun.  Every 
ray  of  her  glory  tells  you  whence  it  comes  and  whom  it 
glorifies, — Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  whom  it  is  her  single 

*  "  All  the  ancient  expositors  agree  in  identifying  these  prophecies  \rith  some 
heretical  Church." — Wordsivorth  on  the  Apocalypse. 


THE   TRUE   CHURCH,   THE    WORLD'S   LIGHT.  35 

office  to  make  known  to  the  world,  as  planets  testify  of  the 
absent  sun  by  which  they  shine.  But  the  other,  what  a 
contrast !  There  you  see  no  reference  to  any  but  herself; 
no  indication  of  dependence  on  the  glory  of  another ;  no 
light  leading  you  to  seek  elsewhere  its  source.  All  is 
put  on  to  attract  the  praise  of  men,  instead  of  directing 
them  to  Christ.  She  glorifies  herself;*  self-exaltation  is 
the  prominent  aspect  of  the  apostate  Church.  Her  voice 
is,  "  I  sit  as  a  queen,  and  am  no  widow,  and  shall  see  no 
sorrow," |  and  I  claim  the  obedience  of  all  nations  unto 
myself.  But  the  voice  of  the  faithful  Church  is  :  I  stand 
as  a  lamp,  shining  in  the  light  of  my  Lord,  to  testify  unto 
and  glorify  him,  that  all  may  look  unto  him  and  be  saved. 
Again :  from  every  thing  in  the  position  and  aspect 
of  the  woman  representing  the  faithful  Church,  whose 
children  "  keep  the  commandments  of  God  and  have  the 
testimony  of  Jesus,"  you  see  that  she  is  occupying  pre- 
cisely the  place,  and  doing  the  work,  which  the  Lord  has 
appointed  to  his  Church.  John  beheld  her  "  in  heaven,''' 
among  the  constellations,  where  God  in  the  beginning 
placed  the  lights,  "to  rule  over  the  day  and  over  the 
night."  From  that  position  she  receives  the  direct  rays 
of  the  sun,  and  reflects  them  on  a  world  shrouded  in  dark- 
ness. Her  office  is  that  of  a  light-bearer  to  the  world. 
In  it  is  her  whole  glory;  all  her  jewelry  is  light — she  is 
shod  with  it,  crowned  with  it,  clothed  with  it — none  of  it 
her  own;  all  from  the  sun.  Take  away  that  light,  and 
she  hath  nothing  left  of  any  beauty.  Beautiful  representa- 
tion of  that  blessed  company  of  the  children  of  God,  who, 
walking  by  faith,  see  him  who  is  invisible ;  and  setting 

*  Rev.  xviii.  7.  -I- Ibid. 


36  SERMON   II. 

their  affections  on  things  above,  have  their  conversation 
in  heave n,  and  their  "  life  hid  with  Christ  in  God,"  and 
are  changed  into  his  image,  and  thus  become  the  living 
surfaces  in  which  he  reflects  himself,  and  the  active  agents 
by  which  his  truth  is  spread  in  the  world.  But  not  such 
the  position  in  which  St.  John  saw  the  woman  represent- 
ing the  fallen  Church.  She  was  not  in  heaven,  among  the 
stars  of  light,  but  on  earth,  "in  the  wilderness"  There 
she  was  sitting,  not  in  banishment,  or  under  constraint, 
but  on  her  throne,  in  all  her  power,  in  all  her  blazonry 
and  pomp.  It  was  her  chosen  place,  and  it  indicated  that 
instead  of  the  light  of  the  world,  she  was  its  desolation ; 
where  she  reigns  in  her  glory,  there  is  a  spiritual  wilder- 
ness, and  the  light  of  Christ  doth  not  come.  Behold, 
then,  that  impressive  and  awful  figure,  as  St.  John  has 
pictured  it.  How  would  you  ever  obtain  the  idea  from 
all  her  aspect,  that  it  is  the  great  office  of  the  Church  of 
Christ,  which  she  professes  to  be,  to  enlighten  the  world, 
to  be  the  active  carrier  and  distributer  of  the  light  of 
Christ  to  men  ?  Where,  in  her  position  in  the  wilderness, 
in  her  raiment  and  ornaments,  in  the  throne  she  sits  on, 
and  the  name  she  wears  on  her  forehead,  and  the  cup  she 
holds  out  to  the  world,  is  there  a  feature  or  sign  that  says 
any  thing  of  light  ?  "  Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world"  saith 
the  Lord^to  his  Church,  and  the  woman  representing  the 
Church  that  answers  to  those  words,  is  all  a  reflection  of 
light.  But  in  the  symbol  of  the  fallen  Church,  there  is 
not  the  least  sign  of  light  received  or  reflected.  Instead 
of  the  clothing  of  the  sun,  we  see  the  poor  substitute  of 
purple,  and  scarlet,  and  gold,  and  precious  stones ;  intelli- 
gible signs,  indeed,  of  worldly  pride  and  pompous  luxury ; 


THE   TRUE   CHURCH,   THE   WORLD 's    LIGHT.  37 

of  loving  the  praise  of  men  more  than  the  praise  of  God ; 
of  living  unto  one's  self  instead  of  unto  Christ ;  of  reli- 
ance for  influence  on  outward  and  earthly  attractiveness, 
instead  of  intrinsic  holiness.  But  they  say  nothing  of 
LIGHT  5  much  of  darkness.  Brilliants  are  worn  to  sparkle 
on  the  wearer,  not  to  irradiate  the  observer.  They  well 
express  the  spirit  of  an  apostate  Church,  glorying  in 
worldly  greatness  ;  seeking  to  win  the  regards  of  men  by 
impressions  on  the  senses,  and  through  the  avenues  of 
worldly  tastes  and  dispositions ;  but  they  say  nothing  of  the 
great  office  of  the  Church  in  the  "  manifestation  of  the 
truth"  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  To  sit  enthroned  on  a  ten-horned 
wild  beast,*  is  significant  of  conquest  and  cruelty,  and  of 
extending  ecclesiastical  dominion,  by  force,  but  not  by 
truth.  The  whole  combination  is  an  apt  symbol  of  secular 
potentates  sustaining  the  arrogant  claims  and  persecuting 
oppressions  of  some  great  ecclesiastical  power ;  but  "  ye 
are  the  light  of  the  ivorld"  would  read  very  strangely  were 
it  written  on  such  a  rider  and  such  a  bearer. 

Then  that  golden  cup  in  the  woman's  hand,  full  of 
abominations !  It  reminds  us  of  the  name  "  BABYLON" 
on  her  brow,  for  it  is  written  in  Jeremiah,  "  Babylon  hath 
been  a  golden  cup  in  the  Lord's  hand  that  made  all  the 
earth  drunken."  It  is  a  striking  name,  especially  as  con- 
nected with  every  thing  else  in  the  vision,  for  intoxicating 
delusions  and  fatal  seductions,  for  poisonous  moral  corrup- 
tions, as  attributes  and  acts  of  the  mission  on  which  the 
great  apostacy  goes  out  among  the  nations,  "with  all 
deceivableness  of  unrighteousness,"  as  Paul  describes. 

*  The  original  word  signifies  a  wild  beast,  one  that  inhabits  desert  places, 
fierce  and  hurtful. 


38  SERMON    II. 

But  a  cup  of  abominations  contains  no  light  of  life,  no 
testimony  of  Christ. 

Then  that  name  on  her  forehead,  "  MYSTERY."  It 
reminds  us  of  St.  Paul's  name  for  the  same  apostacy, 
"  Mystery  of  Iniquity"*  It  teaches  us  that  in  it  are 
"  the  depths  of  Satan,"  as  in  the  Gospel  are  "  the  deep 
things  of  God."  It  speaks  of  a  mysterious  concealment 
of  truth,  instead  of  its  publication  all  abroad.  It  speaks 
of  an  effort  to  attract  reverence  by  being  veiled  and  keep- 
ing things  in  the  dark ;  of  making  mystery  of  all  rites 
and  benefits,  as  magicians  do  with  their  incantations,  and 
as  counterfeit  physicians  with  their  remedies ;  it  speaks 
of  this  being  as  conspicuous  an  attribute  of  the  apostate 
Church,  as  the  crown  of  light  of  the  faithful  Church. 
Light  reveals, — mystery  hides.  Light  opens  the  book  of 
the  knowledge  of  Christ,  and  says  to  all  men,  READ. 
Mystery  shuts  the  book  and  puts  it  under  her  robe  and 
says,  You  must  not  read;  it  is  not  for  common  eyes. 
Only  the  privileged  may  be  trusted  therewith. 

Then  that  other  name,  "  BABYLON  THE  GREAT,"  written 
also  on  her  forehead.  It  reminds  us,  by  way  of  contrast, 
of  the  promise  to  God's  faithful  people.  "  His  name 
shall  be  in  their  forehead."  And  again,  "  I  will  write 
upon  him  the  name  of  my  God,  and  the  name  of  the 
city  of  my  God,  which  is  New  Jerusalem.^  Ah  !  yes, 
Jerusalem !  But  here  the  name  written  is  that  of  the 
old  Pagan  enemy  of  Jerusalem,  her  persecutor,  her 
destroyer,  that  led  her  children  into  captivity,  and  slew 
her  prophets,  and  profaned  her  sanctuary,  and  took  away 
her  golden  candlestick  with  the  sacred  vessels  of  her 

*  2  Thess.  ii.  7.  T  Rev.  iii.  12  ;  xxii.  4. 


THE   TRUE   CHURCH,    THE   WORLD'S    LIGHT.  39 

sacraments,  and  set  them  in  the  house  of  her  idolatry,  and 
used  them  in  the  feasts  of  her  idols.  How  remarkable  to 
find  the  hand  of  inspiration  writing  the  name  of  that  old 
Pagan  city  of  abominations  upon  the  forehead  of  a  Church, 
calling  itself  the  Church  of  Christ !  Yes,  Babylon  for 
Jerusalem ;  the  destroyer  of  the  people  of  God,  for  "  the 
mother  of  us  all"  But  so  it  is.  It  is  a  terrible  brand, 
indeed.  It  tells  of  grievous  oppressions,  of  the  desola- 
tions of  God's  sanctuary,  of  internal  debasements,  con- 
nected with  hideous  idolatries.  It  brings  to  mind  the 
river  of  Babylon,  by  the  side  of  which  the  captive  Jews 
sat  down  and  wept  when  they  remembered  Zion.  It 
recalls  the  words  of  Jeremiah :  "  Babylon  shall  become 
heaps,  a  dwelling  place  for  dragons,  an  astonishment  and 
an  hissing,  without  an  inhabitant."^  But  how  would  it 
sound  to  say  to  that  Church  thus  written  on,  thou  art  the 
light  of  the  ivorld;  the  faithful  bride  of  him  who  is  the 
Light  of  life.  How  great  the  relief  to  turn  from  that  sad 
and  awful  spectacle,  to  the  symbol  of  the  true  bride,  on 
whose  brow,  instead  of  such  names  of  apostacy,  is  written 
in  heaven's  own  sweet  light,  upon  a  coronet  of  stars, 
Teacher  of  the  ivord  of  God  to  all  people. 

But  that  great  Church  apostacy,  so  remarkably  pre- 
dicted and  prefigured  in  the  Scriptures,  where  is  it  ?  has 
it  yet  appeared'}  You  will  not  think  it  very  probable 
that  an  apostacy,  the  leaven  of  which  St.  Paul  said  had 
begun  to  operate  even  in  his  time,|  and  which  he  assured 
us  was  to  grow  into  the  gigantic  stature  of  that  "  Man  of 
Sin,"  whose  attributes  he  described,  has  not  yet,  during 

*  Jer.  li.  37. 

t  "  The  mystery  of  iniquity  doth  already  work."     2  Thess.  ii.  7. 


40  SERMON   II. 

the  progress  of  eighteen  hundred  years,  been  sufficiently 
matured  to  be  seen  and  known.  Where  then  will  you 
find  it  ?  Under  what  Church  form  is  it  seen  ?  For  evi- 
dently it  is  not  a  mere  defection  of  individuals,  however 
many,  but  of  a  Church,  in  its  corporate  principles  and 
life.  I  shall  not  answer  this  question  directly — but  I  will 
do  better.  I  will  assist  you  to  answer  it  for  yourselves. 

What  then  is  the  light  which  the  Church  is  ordained  to 
diffuse  ?  The  knowledge  of  God  and  his  will,  of  Christ 
and  his  salvation.  Under  what  outward  form  does  the 
Church  receive  and  possess  that  light  ?  Your  ready 
answer  is,  Under  the  form  of  the  word  of  God.  The 
Psalmist  says,  "Thy  word  is  a  lamp  unto  my  feet  and  a 
light  unto  my  path."  "  The  entrance  of  thy  words  giveth 
light ;  it  giveth  understanding  to  the  simple.'^  The 
Philippian  Christians  were  "lights  in  the  world"  by  "hold- 
ing forth  the  word  of  life." 

Then  if  the  word  of  God  is  the  light  which  the  Church 
is  ordained  to  diffuse,  it  only  remains  to  ask,  how  is  the 
Church  to  be  the  light  of  the  world?  You  answer  easily  : 
It  is  by  doing  to  all  the  world  what  the  Philippians  did 
in  the  midst  of  their  perverse  nation:  holding  forth  ever?/ 
^vhere  the  word  of  life.  Changing  the  figure,  from  the 
diffusing  of  light,  to  the  sowing  of  seed ;  we  read  in  the 
parable  of  the  sower,  that  the  world  being  the  great  field 
on  which  the  fruits  of  holiness  and  spiritual  life  are  to  be 
grown,  the  seed,  the  only  seed,  which  God  has  provided  to 
be  sown  therein  is  the  word,  and  the  work  of  the  Church 
is  to  sow  that  seed  in  all  the  ivorld.  From  nothing  else 
can  spiritual  life  be  made  to  grow. 

*  Ps.  cxix.  105,  130. 


THE   TRUE   CHURCH,    THE   WORLD'S    LIGHT.  41 

One  more  question  :  Under  what  form  does  the  Church 
possess  the  word  ?  IN  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES,  answers 
every  Christian  people.  "  Search  the  Scriptures,"  said 
our  Lord.  "  They  are  they  which  testify  of  me."  This 
he  said,  not  to  the  Jewish  priests,  but  to  the  people*  It 
follows  then  that  the  great  office  of  the  Church  on  earth, 
as  the  light  of  the  world,  is  to  make  known  the  word; 
not  to  make  a  mystery  of  it,  but  a  manifestation;  to  pub- 
lish it  to  all  people — sound  it  from  the  house-tops  ; 
proclaim  it  on  the  mountains  ;  put  it  into  all  languages ; 
sow  it  broadcast,  like  the  sower  in  the  parable,  that  went 
forth  to  sow ;  so  that  though  some  seed  should  fall  on  the 
wayside,  and  some  on  the  rock,  and  some  among  thorns, 
some  at  any  rate  may  find  the  good  ground,  and  spring 
up  and  bring  forth  fruit.  It  follows  further,  that  one  of 
the  great  means  of  thus  making  known  the  word  to  all 
people,  is  to  make  known  to  them  that  book  in  which 
God  has  written  it,  and  which  we  are  commanded  to 
search.  Nothing  can  be  more  directly  incumbent  on  the 
Church's  office  as  a  light-bearer  to  the  world,  than  the 
publication  of  the  Scriptures  in  all  languages,  and  their 
distribution  to  all  men,  and  the  effort  to  persuade  all  men 
to  search  them  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus,  the  will  of 
God,  and  the  Gospel  of  our  salvation. 

Thus  I  have  given  you  one  of  the  means  of  answering 
the  question  as  to  where  the  apostacy  described  is  to  be 
found.  Can  you  find  a  Church  that  has  fallen  from  her 
proper  place  and  office  as  a  publisher  of  the  light  of  God's 
word  to  the  world  ?  Can  you  find  a  Church  which  not 
only  is  not  engaged  in  the  free  circulation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, but,  in  its  essential  principles,  denies  that  there 

*  John  v.  39,  compared  \rith  verses  15,  16,  17. 


42  SERMON    II. 

is  any  necessary  or  important  connection  between  the 
knowledge  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  growth  of  religion ; 
which  makes  the  seed  to  be  not  the  ivord,  and  claims  to 
be  able  to  do  the  entire  work  of  the  Church,  though  all 
but  her  own  chief  priests  be  wholly  destitute  of  the  Scrip- 
tures ?  Can  you  find  a  Church  in  whose  dominions,  in 
proportion  as  you  approach  the  centre  of  her  power  and 
the  fullness  of  her  glory,  where  her  chief  seat  is,  and 
where  her  ornaments  and  jewels  are  best  seen,  and  her 
consistency  is  least  hindered,  you  find  the  greatest  dearth 
and  ignorance  of  the  Scriptures,  so  that  where  she  is  most, 
the  Bible,  is  least  ?  Can  you  find  a  Church  which  in  her 
missions  among  the  heathen  makes  no  effort  to  introduce 
the  Scriptures  among  the  people,  makes  no  translations 
of  the  Bible  into  their  tongues,  feels  no  need  of  such 
auxiliaries,  does  all  the  work  of  her  missions  without  the 
Scriptures  ?  Can  you  find  a  Church  which,  instead  of 
seeking  to  convince  and  persuade  by  manifestation  of 
the  truth,  substitutes  her  own  authority  and  power,  and 
not  merely  does  not  set  an  open  Bible  before  the  world 
and  say  come  and  ready  but  shuts  the  book  and  writes 
upon  it  "mystery,"  and  takes  it  out  of  sight,  and  says 
You  must  not  read ;  it  is  enough  if  certain  privileged 
ones  shall  read  ?  Do  you  know  a  Church  which,  in 
countries  where  she  has  ascendancy  enough  to  venture  so 
far,  concentrates  her  whole  authority  and  vigilance  upon 
keeping  the  people  from  the  free  searching  of  the  Scrip- 
tures ;  fences  up  her  territories  against  their  entrance  as 
against  a  pestilence,  no  matter  in  what  version,  Protes- 
tant or  Romish,  they  come  ;  employs  an  active  police  in 
the  zealous  search  after  any  that  induce  men  to  read  the 


THE   TRUE    CHURCH,    THE  WORLD'S    LIGHT.  43 

Bible,  or  that  venture,  in  the  secret  chamber,  to  refresh  a 
weary  spirit  from  that  water  of  life  ;  dragging  them  for 
that  one  only  crime  to  chains  and  prisons  and  galleys,  to 
the  company  of  felons  and  the  sufferings  of  martyrs, 
fearing  nothing  so  much  for  her  dominion,  and  strength, 
and  wealth,  as  the  free  searching  and  universal  circula- 
tion of  the  word  of  God  ?  Find  a  Church  in  which  these 
eminent  peculiarities  are  exhibited,  not  merely  in  many 
of  her  members,  but  in  her  corporate  authorities  ;  not  as 
accidents  of  a  certain  age  or  region,  but  as  ordinances 
and  laws,  proceeding  directly  from  her  essential  princi- 
ples, inseparably  connected  therewith,  and  which  she 
cannot  deny  till  she  denies  herself;  and  then,  by  those 
marks,  independently  of  many  others  that  might  be 
given,  you  will  have  found  out  the  seat  of  the  woman 
that  is  not  "clothed  with  the  sun;5'  and  hath  not  the 
testimony  of  the  Apostles,  as  a  crown  of  twelve  stars 
upon  her  head ;  whose  adorning,  and  power,  and  glory, 
are  not  of  God,  wherever  else  they  may  have  come  from: 
"The  Mystery  of  Iniquity"  of  St.  Paul,  "The  Babylon" 
of  the  Apocalypse.* 

*  The  recent  persecutions  in  Italy,  for  the  single  crime  of  reading  the  Scrip- 
tures, must  open  the  eyes  of  many  to  what  all  who  know  the  history,  or  under- 
stand the  doctrinal  system  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  have  always  known,  that 
actually  and  doctrinally  she  forbids,  and  in  consistency  must  forbid,  the  free 
reading  of  the  Scriptures,  and  only  relaxes  her  practice  in  that  particular 
where  her  dominion  is  not  sufficiently  established  to  warrant  the  full  carrying 
out  of  her  principles.  But  Cardinal  Wiseman  has  recently  been  bold  enough 
to  be  sufficiently  plain  on  that  head.  In  his  "  Catholic  Doctrine  for  the  Use  of 
the  Bible,  "  lately  published,  he  says,  "  The  Bible  is  more  difficult  to  under- 
stand than  any  other  book.  No  Greek  classic,  no  Arabian  or  Persian  Poet,  no 
Hindoo  mystic  is  more  abstruse."  (p.  13.)  Of  course  then  the  Church  of 
Rome  does  not  say  to  the  people,  "Search  the  Scriptures,"  but  Jesus  did.  The 
Cardinal  must  refer  chiefly  to  the  Old  Testament  for  the  difficult  parts.  But 
when  Jesus  said  "  Search  the  Scriptures, "  the  people  had  only  those  parts. 
But  the  Cardinal  again  :  (p.  25.)  "  In  Catholic  countries,  such  as  can  read  or 


44  SERMON   II. 

Oh !  it  is  a  consolation  indeed  to  remember  that  we  be- 
long to  a  Church,  the  essential  principle  of  which  is,  that 
sancuification  is  by  the  truth;  that  the  seed  of  all  spiritual 

do  read,  have  access  to  the  Latin  version  without  restraint."  The  Latin 
version  for  the  people  !  "If  a  son  ask  bread,  will  he  give  him  a  stone  ?  " 
What  better  is  the  Latin  version  to  people  that  cannot  read  Latin  ?  But  the 
Cardinal  again:  (p.  26.)  ''Though  the  Scriptures  may  be  permitted,  we  do 
not  urge  them  on  our  people  ;  we  do  not  encourage  them  to  read  them.  "  Of 
course  you  do  not  urge  people  to  read  the  Latin  version,  when  they  know 
nothing  of  the  Latin  tongue.  But  Jesus  not  only  encouraged  but  urged  : 
"  Search  the  Scriptures  ; "  and  Paul  commended  the  Bereans  because  they 
"  searched  the  Scriptures  daily  ; "  Acts,  xvii.  2.  But  the  Cardinal  further 
states,  (p.  25,)  that  where  the  Church  permits  "  the  reading  of  Scripture,  she 
does  not  permit  the  interpreting."  Wonderful  privilege  !  First,  it  is  a  Latin 
version,  and  then  the  few  who  can  read  that,  though  they  are  not  encouraged 
to  do  it,  but  only  not  forbidden,  must  not  interpret ;  that  is,  must  not  attempt 
to  find  out  the  meaning !  A  lamp  they  are  permitted  to  hold  in  hand,  but 
must  not  walk  by  it?  They  may  read,  for  example,  "  Come  unto  me  all,  ye 
that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest  ; "  but  they  must 
not  interpret  that  sweet  and  plain  invitation  of  grace.  The  Bereans  had  the 
privilege  of  listening  to  an  intepreter  of  the  Scriptures,  as  infallible,  per- 
haps the  Cardinal  will  grant,  as  the  Pope  ;  even  St.  Paul.  But  even  then 
"they  searched  the  Scriptures  daily,  whether  those  things  (which  he  taught)  were 
so  ;  "  and  Paul  praised  them  for  it.  Did  they  read  without  interpreting  ? 

By  this  prohibition  to  interpret,  ths  exceedingly  liberal  allowance  of  the 
Latin  version  is  made  practically  a  nullity,  even  to  a  Latin  reader.  It  is 
time,  therefore,  for  the  Cardinal  to  be  more  candid.  Next,  therefore,  he  con- 
fesses that  the  Romish  Church  is  opposed  to  the  free  reading  of  the  Scriptures. 
"  If  (he  says,  p.  20,)  we  be  asked  why  we  do  not  give  the  Bible  indifferently 
to  all,  and  the  shutting  up  of  God's  word  be  disdainfully  thrown  in  our  face, 
we  will  not  seek  to  elude  the  question,  or  meet  the  taunt  by  denial,  or  by  en- 
deavoring to  prove  that  our  principles  on  the  subject  are  not  antagonistic  to 
those  of  Protestants.  They  are  antagonistic,  and  we  glory  in  avowing  it.  "  We 
trust  then  we  shall  hear  no  more  of  the  denial  of  this  avowed  antagonism  ;  we 
have  had  enough  of  it.  The  principles  of  the  Romish  Church  are  most  certainly 
directly  antagonistic,  as  to  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  by  the  people,  to  the 
principles  of  Protestants.  Then,  if  out  of  "  Catholic  countries  "  Romanists  are 
ever  allowed  to  read  any  but  a  Latin.  Bible,  let  it  be  remembered  it  is  not 
according  to  the  principles  of  the  Romish  Church,  but  against  them,  and  be- 
cause a  surrounding  Protestantism  requires  that  measure  of  concession  for  the 
present,  and  when  Popery  shall  be  sufficiently  in  the  ascendant  it  will  cease. 
Who  can  doubt  this  when  he  reads  the  Cardinal,  at  p.  15,  as  follows  :  "The 
experiment  has  been  tried  on  a  great  scale  of  what  the  indiscriminate  reading 
of  the  Bible  will  make  a  people.  It  has  been  tried  in  the  dominions  of  Queen 
Pomare  with  unexampled  success.  It  has  transformed  a  mild  and  promising 


THE   TRUE   CHURCH,    THE    WORLD'S    LIGHT.  45 

life  in  the  world  is  the  word;  that  the  knowledge  of  the 
Scriptures  is  essentially  connected  with  the  propagation  of 
the  Gospel ;  that  to  persuade  men  to  search  the  Scrip- 
tures as  the  testimony  of  Jesus,  is  a  great  duty  of  her 
ministry;  that  to  spread  the  knowledge  of  the  Bible  is  the 
way  by  which  the  Church  is  to  be  the  light  of  the  world. 
It  is  a  great  consolation  to  think  of  the  institutions,  un- 
der the  name  of  Bible  Societies,  which  band  together  such 
a  vast  array  of  the  numbers,  and  wisdom,  and  influence,  and 
wealth  of  Protestant  Christians  in  the  single  work  of  print- 
ing the  Scriptures  for  circulation  among  all  people,  and 
whose  issues  are  already  many  millions.  It  is  delightful 
to  think  of  the  vast  and  mighty  system  of  agencies,  from 
the  great  publishing  centres,  to  all  the  ramifications  of  mis- 
sionaries, and  zealous  lay  distributers  and  scripture-read- 
ers, so  exclusively  connected  with  Protestant  Churches 
and  the  result  of  Protestant  principles,  whose  object  is  to 
place  the  pure  word  of  God  in  every  language,  in  every 
house,  and  to  encourage,  and  urge,  and  aid  all  people  to  read 
the  same.  It  is  the  glory  of  Protestant  missionaries,  that 
always  their  first  work  in  a  dark  land,  is  to  get  the  Scrip- 
tures as  soon  as  possible  into  the  language  of  the  people; 
to  make  the  Bible  an  open  book  to  them,  by  making  it 
speak  in  their  tongue,  and  by  teaching  them  to  read  it ; 

race  into  a  pack  of  lazy,  immoral  infidels."  The  Cardinal  is  emphatic.  The 
Bible,  God's  word,  by  the  simple  reading  of  it,  has  made  a  heathen  people'a 
great  deal  worse  !  How  it  has  made  infidels  of  heathens,  we  do  not  under- 
stand We  supposed  they  had  always  been  infidels.  But  the  assertion  is, 
that  what  our  Lord  commanded  us  to  search,  and  Paul  praised  the  Bereans  for 
searching  daily,  and  Timothy  was  commended  for  knowing  in  his  childhood, 
has  been  thus  destructive  to  the  morals,  &c.  of  the  subjects  of  Queen  Pomare. 
Of  course,  then,  the  principles  of  the  Romish  Church  PROHIBIT  the  Scriptures. 
Can  they  permit  the  word  of  God  to  be  read,  if  they  think  it  so  poisonous? 
The  Cardinal  will  be  believed. 


46  SERMON   II. 

thus  clothing  their  work  at  once  "with  the  sun"  and  seek- 
ing to  "shine  as  lights  in  the  world,"  like  the  Philippian 
Christians  of  old,  by  "holding  forth  the  word  of  life." 

More  and  more  may  all  such  work  and  zeal  increase 
among  us.  It  is  evidence  of  the  true  and  living  Church. 
It  is  the  garment  of  praise  ;  it  is  the  terror  of  the  powers 
of  darkness;  it  is  Jerusalem  against  Babylon. 

II.  And  now,  from  the  view  we  have  taken  of  the  posi- 
tion and  office  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  this  world,  let  me 
very  briefly  deduce  a  few  of  the  important  lessons  con- 
tained therein. 

1.  The  great  duty  of  the  Church,  in  all  her  agencies  and 
operations,  is  to  be  a  preacher  and  a  witness  of  Christ.     He 
is  the  true  light.     To  know  him  is  life  eternal.     To  make 
him  known  to  the  world  by  his  word  is  to  be  the  light  of 
the  world.     To  be  clothed  with  the  testimony  of  Jesus,  so 
that  every  aspect  of  the  Church  directs  the  eye  of  the  sin- 
ner unto  him,  so  that  all  her  beauty  and  value  are  sought 
in  the  faithfulness  of  that  her  proper  testimony,  is  for  the 
Church  to  be  clothed  with  the  sun.     As  that  testimony 
becomes  obscure  ;  as  any  Church  declines  from  the  direct- 
ness, and  fulness,  and  constancy  of  that  manifestation  of 
Christ ;  as  she  gets  to  glorying  in  some  other  wisdom,  and 
seeking  some  other  praise,  and  putting  on  some  other 
raiment,  she  wanders  from  her  orbit;  she  falls  from  her 
sphere ;  she  loses  life ;  she  becomes  darkness  instead  of 
light  to  the  world ;  she  may  retain  the  whole  form  and  or- 
dinance of  the  visible  Church,  but  in  spirit  and  life  she 
may  be  utterly  apostate. 

2.  The  Church  must  seek  her  whole  power  to  do  her  ap- 
pointed work,  in  the  constant  renewal  upon  herself  of  the 


THE   TRUE    CHURCH,    THE   WORLD'S    LIGHT.  47 

light  and  life  of  Christ.  The  moon  and  planets  are  no  de- 
positories, they  are  only  reflectors  of  the  light  of  the  sun. 
Arrest  for  a  single  moment  their  communion  with  that 
central  power,  and  they  are  perfect  darkness.  They  must 
be  clothed  with  the  sun,  by  renewal,  every  instant.  Thus 
must  the  Church  continually  be  receiving  from  Christ. 
She  can  lay  up  nothing  in  store.  Her  office  is  that  of  a 
reflector.  Her  face  must  be  always  looking  unto  Jesus. 
What  she  was  in  the  Apostles'  times  was  no  security  for 
what  she  would  be  in  future  times.  The  seven  Churches 
of  Asia  were  particularly  represented  in  "the  seven  can- 
dlesticks "  which  John  beheld,  and  in  the  midst  of  them 
walked  the  Son  of  Man,  as  the  sun  shineth  in  his  strength. 
But  now  what  are  they  ?  The  Church  of  Rome  was  once 
so  faithful  that  St.  Paul  testified  that  its  faith  was  spoken 
of  throughout  the  world.*  What  is  it  now  ?  Just  as 
each  individual  believer  must  be  constantly  renewing  his 
spiritual  life  by  communion  with  Christ,  "who  is  our  life," 
must  the  whole  Church,  which  is  but  the  aggregate  of  all 
believers,  be  receiving  again  directly  from  the  fountain  of 
its  being,  that  replenishment  of  life,  without  which,  though 
it  keep  all  the  form  of  a  Church,  it  can  have  only  a  name 
to  live ;  and  that  renewal  of  spiritual  light,  without  which, 
however  the  word  of  God  may  be  in  its  hands,  it  will  not 
profit  thereby,  nor  make  use  of  it  for  the  good  of  the 
world,  nor  exhibit  any  example  to  lead  men  to  God. 

3.  It  is  not  merely  in  a  corporate  capacity,  but  by  com- 
bination of  the  faithfulness  of  individual  Christians,  in 
their  several  spheres  and  relations,  and  in  the  use  of  their 
several  talents,  that  the  Church  is  to  be  the  light  of  the 
world.  The  holiness  of  the  Church  is  simply  the  aggregate 

*Rom.  i.  8. 


48  SERMON    II. 

of  the  personal  holiness  of  its  several  members.  All 
other  holiness  is  but  relative  and  ceremonial.  Such  also 
is  the  light  of  the  Church.  Its  ministry  is  of  no  avail  to 
fulfill  its  great  work,  but  as  each  minister  is  faithful.  Its 
whole  body  of  people  can  do  nothing  for  the  world,  but  as 
each  congregation,  and  each  member  of  each  congrega- 
tion, is  faithful  in  his  own  individual  stewardship.  The 
Church  at  Philippi  was  composed  of  Christians  who  in  the 
midst  of  a  crooked  and  perverse  nation  shone  "as  lights 
in  the  world" — as  many  lights  as  there  were  Christians — 
each  doing  his  individual  work  in  union  with  all  the  rest. 
And  thus  the  Philippian  Church  altogether  was  a  light 
in  the  world.  What  that  one  Church  was,  all  Christians 
are  required  to  be.  They  are  styled  "children  of  the 
light."  "The  path  of  the  just  is  as  the  shining  light, 
which  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day." 
As  that  path  ascends  in  holiness,  and  gets  more  above 
the  world,  and  nearer  to  God,  it  becomes  the  more  a 
shining  light.  All  members  of  the  Church  have  not  the 
same  office,  but  they  have  essentially  the  same  work,  the 
same  interest,  the  same  essential  relation  to  the  Lord 
and  the  world.  The  Church  is  a  communion,  not  only  of 
brothers,  but  of  laborers;  not  only  in  the  hope  of  salva- 
tion, but  in  the  privilege  of  spreading  the  knowledge  of 
it,  and  of  multiplying  the  number  of  those  who  partake 
therein.  We  are  all  to  be  "workers  together  with  God." 
It  is  the  heritage  of  each  disciple  of  Christ  to  be  per- 
mitted to  "occupy"  the  place  and  stewardship  which  his 
Master  has  assigned  him,  so  that  when  his  Lord  cometh, 
he  miy  say  of  that  disciple,  however  humble  his  lot,  "/ 
am  glorified  in  him"  How  much  each  may  do,  none  can 


THE   TRUE   CHURCH,   THE   WORLD'S   LIGHT.  49 

say,  because  results  depend  on  God,  and  the  magnitude 
of  a  work  is  so  little  to  be  measured  by  its  outside  ap- 
pearances or  visible  connections,  and  so  much  is  added  to 
the  visible  deed  by  the  unseen  faith,  and  love,  and  prayer 
that  attend  it ;  and  because  that  which  seems  least  to  our 
eye  may  be  a  seed  from  which  the  Lord  will  raise  harvests 
of  fruit  in  all  generations.  Who  knows  but  that  the  con- 
version of  Saul  was  an  answer  to  the  prayer  of  Stephen 
when  he  prayed  for  his  persecutors  ?  What  was  the  con- 
nection between  the  faithfulness  of  a  certain  pious  mother 
diligently  instructing  her  son  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,* 
and  the  subsequent  wide  usefulness  of  that  son  when  he 
became  Paul's  own  son  in  the  faith,  the  beloved  Timothy, 
the  instrument,  under  God,  of  making  many  wise  unto 
salvation  ?  It  is  apparently  a  little  thing  to  the  darkness 
of  the  great  world,  that  a  single  Christian,  in  a  very 
humble  sphere,  and  with  little  worldly  means  and  influ- 
ence, should  set  the  example  of  purity,  and  holiness,  and 
undeviating  consistency  of  life ;  should  manifest  the  practi- 
cal influence  and  blessedness  of  the  Gospel  in  all  his 
spirit,  and  temper,  and  conversation,  in  the  government 
of  his  household,  in  the  spirituality  of  his  mind,  in  his 
love  of  things  above,  in  the  application  of  Christian  princi- 
ples to  all  the  relations  of  social  life,  in  the  conscientious 
use  of  his  pecuniary  substance  for  the  relief  of  human 
suffering,  and  the  promotion  of  the  Gospel ;  it  seems  little 
that  such  a  Christian  should  in  his  prayers  be  earnestly 
beseeching  God  to  send  laborers  into  his  harvest,  and  to 
pour  out  his  Spirit  on  the  Church,  and  to  establish  his 
kingdom  in  the  whole  earth.  But  no.  It  is  the  way  ; 

*  1  Tim.  i.2  ;  2  Tim  iii,  14,  15. 
4 


50  SERMON   II. 

God's  appointed  way.  The  eye  cannot  say  to  the  foot, 
nor  the  rich  to  the  poor,  nor  the  strong  to  the  weak,  nor 
the  learned  to  the  most  ignorant,  nor  the  whole  Church 
to  its  least  member,  "  I  have  no  need  of  thee."  In  the 
vision  of  St.  John,  the  woman  had  a  crown  of  twelve  stars 
on  her  head,  but  her  whole  body,  every  member,  was 
clothed  with  the  sun.  Beautiful,  at  night,  is  that  broad 
girdle  of  light  which  spreads  through  the  firmament,  com- 
posed of  innumerable  distinct  points  of  radiance,  but  each 
so  minute  to  our  view,  that  none  can  be  distinguished 
from  all  the  rest.  So  does  each  humble  faithful  follower 
of  Christ,  living  in  the  light  of  his  Lord,  contribute  his 
part  to  the  whole  office  of  the  Church ;  too  obscure  to 
be  distinguished ;  too  precious  to  be  dispensed  with. 

4.  Lastly,  the  Church  will  discharge  its  duty  to  the 
world  only  so  far  as  each  of  its  several  sections  or  congre- 
gations shall  be  faithful  to  its  own  locality  and  neighbor- 
hood. And  this  brings  me,  brethren,  to  the  happy 
services  of  this  day,  in  which  all  the  cares,  and  anxieties, 
and  toils,  and  burdens,  connected  with  the  progress  of 
this  noble  edifice,  now  solemnly  consecrated  to  the 
worship  and  word  of  God,  have  so  joyfully  terminated.* 
Having  followed  your  efforts  with  the  liveliest  interest, 
from  your  first  incipient  measures,  through  all  your  trials 
and  discouragements,  to  the  present  hour,  with  a  sympathy 
much  more  intimate  than  you  might  have  expected  from 
my  official  relation  to  you,  I  have  admired  the  deter- 
mined perseverance  with  which,  in  the  face  of  great 
difficulties,  you  have  gone  on,  not  only  to  complete,  but 

*  Preached  at  the  consecration  of  St.  John's  Church,  Cincinnati,  Feb.  9, 
1854. 


THE   TRUE   CHURCH,   THE   WORLD'S    LIGHT.  51 

also  to  relieve  from  incumbrance,  this  House  of  Prayer, 
so  good,  so  spacious,  so  appropriate,  as  well  as  beautiful, 
in  all  its  parts  and  furniture.  And  now  that  it  is  occu- 
pied with  a  fixed  congregation,  in  which  the  minister  of 
God  may  be  well  content  to  lay  out  all  his  efforts  for  their 
eternal  good,  and  that  in  him  who  occupies  towards  you 
that  responsible  position,  you  are  so  richly  blessed  with  a 
most  faithful  and  earnest  preacher  of  Christ  and  pastor  of 
the  flock  (whom  may  God  long  spare  and  you  long  pos- 
sess) ;  I  desire  to  take  my  part  with  you  in  a  thankful 
acknowledgment  of  the  good  hand  of  the  Lord  in  these 
mercies ;  in  feeling  that  it  was  He  who  gave  what  we  have 
this  morning  consecrated  to  his  service ;  and  in  supplica- 
tion that  all  that  has  been  expended  here,  and  all  that 
shall  be  enjoyed  here,  may  ever  be  to  the  glory  of  his 
grace,  in  the  increase  of  his  kingdom  everywhere. 

But  now,  my  brethren,  after  the  special  services  of  this 
occasion,  the  question  naturally  arises,  what  will  God,  who 
has  placed  you  in  this  house  to  profit  by  all  the  privileges 
of  his  grace,  and  who  has  thus  brought  you  together  as  a 
communion  and  congregation,  what  ivill  He  have  you  to  do  ? 
What  return,  what  fruit  does  He  expect?  How  much 
has  your  power  to  do  good  been  increased  by  your  pre- 
sent associated  condition  !  How  much  ability  to  do  good 
was  previously  possessed  among  the  individuals  composing 
this  congregation,  all  of  which  is  enhanced  and  made  as  a 
city  set  on  a  hill  by  this  union  under  this  roof !  Now 
there  is  a  design  in  this.  God  has  a  purpose  in  forming 
congregations.  What  is  it  here  ?  Brethren,  will  you 
satisfy  that  purpose  in  being  content  just  to  occupy  your 
places  here  at  the  stated  times,  and  join  in  the  worship 


52  SERMON   II. 

and  listen  reverently  to  the  word  of  God ;  or,  if  you  do 
more,  and  spiritually  improve  your  privileges  here,  so  as 
to  grow  in  grace,  and  so  that  the  number  of  God's  true 
people  shall  be  increased  among  you?  Will  that  be 
enough  ?  Is  this  congregation  and  communion,  set  up  of 
God  in  the  midst  of  this  rapidly  enlarging  population,  in 
the  midst  of  so  much  darkness,  so  much  wickedness,  so 
much  unbelief,  in  the  midst  of  multitudes  that  are  without 
God  and  without  hope,  is  it  only  for  the  spiritual  good  and 
enjoyment  of  those  who  belong  to  it?  Is  a  light-house 
erected  merely  to  give  light  within  ?  or  to  cast  the  beams 
of  hope  upon  surrounding  darkness  and  dangers,  and  lead 
the  wandering  and  lost  from  afar  off  into  the  way  of 
safety?  Such  is  God's  will  with  regard  to  you.  You 
belong  to  that  great  community  on  which  the  Lord  has 
laid  the  duty  of  being  the  light  of  the  world.  Ye  must 
take  your  part  in  those  great  works  of  Christian  effort 
which  limit  their  benevolence  only  by  the  limits  of  the 
world.  But  especially  must  you  realize  your  responsi- 
bility as  connected  with  the  spiritual  necessities  of  the 
world  immediately  around  you.  We  must  not  be  content 
in  this  growing  city,  with  our  present  churches,  and 
ministers,  and  Sunday  schools,  and  other  agencies  for 
good-doing.  As  fast  as  possible  must  they  be  increased 
in  number  and  extension.  Sin,  crime,  neglect  of  God 
and  his  word,  the  profanation  of  his  holy  day  ;  infidelity, 
zealous  and  bold,  indigenous  and  foreign,  seeking  prose- 
lytes just  where  the  want  of  the  means  of  grace  is  great- 
est ;  a  hundred  forms  of  spiritual  darkness  and  want  are 
fearfully  increasing  in  power  and  diffusion  around  us,  and 
all  Christian  people  have  greatly  to  increase  their  efforts 


THE   TRUE    CHURCH,    THE   WORLD'S    LIGHT.  53 

if  they  would  keep  up  with  the  fast  increasing  demand 
upon  their  zeal.  Thus  far  you  have  begun  well.  Your 
Sunday  schools,  your  Bible  classes,  your  contributions  to 
good  works  of  various  kinds,  to  the  distribution  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  of  tracts,  to  the  support  of  colporteurs 
cariying  the  printed  word  where  other  agencies  do  not 
reach,  to  the  maintenance  of  missionaries  at  home  and 
abroad,  all  speak  most  encouragingly  for  the  future 
influence  and  good-doing  of  this  recently  organized  flock. 
Go  on,  brethren,  to  put  your  talents  daily  to  the  best 
investment  Ability  increases  with  exercise.  Talents 
are  ascertained  by  use.  Blessings  multiply,  as  blessings 
are  improved.  In  what  particular  ways  you  are  to  work 
I  cannot  here  specify.  I  aim  now  simply  at  stirring  up 
the  conscientious  inquiry,  what  the  Lord  will  have  you  to 
do,  individually  and  collectively,  as  a  leaven,  as  a  light, 
in  the  midst  of  the  population  of  this  city.  The  glory  of 
a  Church  is  to  have  the  light  of  Christ,  and  by  it  so  to 
shine  in  holiness  and  good  works,  that  sinners  may  be  led 
to  Christ  for  eternal  life.  Be  that,  as  long  as  these  walls 
shall  stand,  the  glory  of  the  Church  that  shall  worship 
here.  Here  may  the  precious  Gospel  of  Christ  be  ever 
preached  in  purity  and  faithfulness,  and  be  accompanied 
"  with  the  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power  1"  Here 
may  the  riches  of  divine  grace  be  gloriously  manifested 
in  the  conversion  of  multitudes  of  wandering  sinners  to 
the  faith  and  hope  of  Christ,  and  in  their  growing  meet- 
ness  for  his  presence  !  Here  may  many  a  desolate  heart 
be  made  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost !  To  this  house 
may  thousands  of  those  who  shall  be  with  Christ  in  his 
kingdom,  have  reason  to  look  from  the  heights  of  their 


54  SERMON   II. 

glory,  and  say,  There  was  I  lorn ;  there  I  first  saw  the 
true  light;  there  I  learned  the  preciousness  of  Christ  to 
my  soul.  Here,  under  the  rod  of  the  word  and  the  power 
of  God,  may  a  fountain  ever  flow,  fed  from  out  of  the 
riches  of  Christ,  the  streams  of  which  shall  make  glad  the 
hearts  of  the  perishing  in  the  most  distant  habitations  of 
the  wilderness !  Amen. 


SERMON  III. 

THE    CHURCH    OF   CHRIST  IN  ITS  ESSENTIAL   BEING. 


1   CHRON.  xxii.   1. 

"  Then  David  said,  This  is  the  house  of  the  Lord  our  God,  and  this  is  the 
altar  of  the  burnt-offering  for  Israel.  " 

IT  was  by  no  means  a  secondary  matter  under  the  dis- 
pensation of  the  levitical  law,  to  know  ivhat  was  the  house 
of  the  Lord,  and  what  was  the  altar  of  the  burnt-offering 
for  Israel. 

There  was  but  one  house,  and  one  altar  of  burnt-offer- 
ing. No  sacrifice  was  accepted  that  was  not  brought  to 
the  door  of  the  one,  and  sanctified  by  being  offered  upon 
the  other.  All  that  was  peculiar  to  that  dispensation  was 
centered  in  that  house  and  altar.  All  that  pertained  to 
an  Israelite,  as  an  Israelite,  depended  on  his  connection 
therewith.  Hence  the  question  between  the  Jews  and 
Samaritans,  as  laid  for  decision  before  our  Lord  by  the 
woman  of  Samaria,  namely,  whether  men  ought  to  wor- 
ship at  Jerusalem,  or  on  Mount  Gerizim,  whether  the  true 
house  and  altar  were  in  the  one  mount  or  the  other,  was 
a  vital  question  to  all  who  desired  a  share  in  the  peculiar 
privileges  of  the  ceremonial  law.  And  hence  the  decision 
of  that  question  had  not  been  left  to  human  appoint- 
ments or  conjectures.  In  every  period  of  the  history  of 
the  levitical  dispensation,  God  had  visibly  declared  by 
signs  and  wonders  where  his  house  and  what  his  altar  was. 


56  SERMON    III. 

When  the  tabernacle  was  set  up  and  the  altar  therein,  and 
all  was  consecrated  according  to  divine  appointment,  then 
"a  cloud  covered  the  tent  of  the  congregation  and  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the  tabernacle."*  It  was  the 
marvellous  signal  whereby  the  God  of  Israel  proclaimed 
in  language  too  plain  to  be  misunderstoood,  "  This  is  the 
house  of  the  Lord  our  God,  and  this  is  the  altar  of  the 
burnt-offering  for  Israel." 

And  when,  in  place  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  wilderness, 
the  more  permanent  and  magnificent  temple  of  Jerusalem 
was  built,  the  same  signal  appeared.  "The  fire  came 
down  from  heaven  and  consumed  the  burnt-offering  and 
tbe  sacrifices,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the  house. 
And  when  all  the  children  of  Israel  saw" — they  signified 
that  they  well  understood;  "they  bowed  themselves  with 
their  faces  to  the  ground,  upon  the  pavement,  and  wor- 
shiped, and  praised  the  Lord,  "f 

The  dispensation  of  the  law  had  a  typical  relation  at 
all  points  to  that  of  the  Gospel.  Its  priesthood  was 
typical,  not  indeed  of  our  human  ministry,  which  is  no 
priesthood;  but  of  that  priesthood  of  our  blessed  Lord  in 
heaven,  which  alone  makes  our  ministry  of  any  use,  or 
the  sinner's  hope  the  least  consolation.  Its  temple  was  a 
grand  type  of  the  Church  of  God,  his  household  of  faith, 
in  earth  and  heaven.  And  the  question,  what  is  that 
Church  or  household,  is  just  as  vital  to  all  our  participation 
in  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel,  as  was  the  question,  what 
was  the  temple,  and  what  the  altar  of  the  burnt-offering 
of  Israel,  to  all  participation  in  the  privileges  of  the 
chosen  people. 

*Ex.  xl.  34.  i-2  Chron.  vii.    1  and  3. 


THE   CHURCH   OF  CHRIST  IN  ITS  ESSENTIAL  BEING.         57 

To  belong  to  the  house  or  family  of  God  is  certainly 
essential  to  all  hope  of  salvation.  If  \ve  have  no  part 
in  the  temple,  we  can  have  none  in  the  atoning  sacrifice. 
If  we  be  not  of  the  family,  we  can  have  no  share  in  its 
communion  and  festival.  If  we  are  not  of  Israel,  we  can 
have  no  inheritance  in  Israel.  It  is  just  as  true,  and  to 
this  we  would  draw  your  special  attention,  that  if  we  do 
belong  to  the  house,  the  Church,  the  family  of  God,  zve 
must  have  part  in  the  heritage  of  his  people. 

To  be  found  in  the  Church,  and  to  be  saved,  are  essen- 
tially connected.  Whatever  the  Church  may  be,  and 
whatever  may  make  us  members  thereof,  it  is  Christ's 
living  body ;  and  the  scriptures  always  represent  those 
who  belong  to  that  body  as  being  in  Christ  Jesus,  precise- 
ly where  St.  Paul  was  so  earnest  that  he  might  be  found 
at  the  last;  and  nothing  can  be  more  impossible  than 
that  a  real  member  of  Christ,  a  sinner  found,  at  death, 
actually  in  him,  can  be  lost.  We  repeat  it,  then,  with 
special  emphasis;  membership  in  the  Church  of  Christ, 
and  salvation  in  Christ,  are  essentially  connected,  and  cor- 
relative. 

And,  further:  Whatever  be  the  instrument  of  God, 
whereby  alone  we  are  made  members  of  Christ's  Church, 
it  is  essential  to  salvation,  and  is  necessarily  saving — sim- 
ply because  it  unites  us  to  Christ  himself.  Therefore,  if 
any  sacramental  ordinance — if  the  sacrament  of  baptism — 
make  us  any  thing  more  than  visibly  m  professedly  members 
of  the  Church;  if  it  be  the  instrument  whereby  we  are 
made,  not  merely  in  the  visible  sign,  but  in  the  inward 
reality,  members  of  the  body  of  Christ;  if  every  one  who 
has  received  that  sacrament  is  a  member  of  Christ's 


58  SERMON   III. 

body,  the  Church,  then  is  he  found  in  Christ — and  then  it 
is  true,  not  only  that  without  that  sacrament  we  cannot 
be  saved,  but  with  it,  ive  cannot  be  lost.  Wherever  you 
find  the  baptized,  you  find,  according  to  such  views,  not 
only  the  true  and  only  house  and  Church  of  the  Lord 
our  God,  but  those  who  have  a  saving  portion  in  the  one 
great  burnt-offering  for  Israel. 

Baptism  and  salvation  are  as  indissolubly  connected, 
according  to  that  view,  as  our  being  in  Christ,  and  our 
being  in  the  peace  of  God.  The  saved  are  exclusively 
the  baptized.  The  baptized  are  certainly  the  saved. 
These  are  consequences  of  that  doctrine  of  baptism,  which 
cannot  be  escaped.  They  follow  of  necessity  from  the 
vital  union  between  the  Church  and  Christ;  from  the 
oneness  of  membership  in  it  and  in  him.  Hence  the 
primary  importance  of  the  question,  what  is  the  house  of 
the  Lord  our  God?  what  constitutes  the  Church  of 
Christ  ?  what  makes  us  members  thereof?  Are  the  sacra- 
ments and  the  ministry  so  essential  to  the  being  of  the 
Church,  that  without  them  it  is  a  nonentity  ?  Is  the 
sacrament  of  baptism  so  identical  with  membership  in  the 
Church,  not  visible  merely,  but  spiritual  membership  in 
the  body  of  Christ,  that  whoever  is  baptized  is  such  mem- 
ber, and  whoever  is  not  baptized  cannot  be?  If  not, 
what  are  the  relations  of  the  visible  and  divinely  appoint- 
ed ordinances  of  the  Church  to  the  being  and  member- 
ship thereof?  These  are  questions  which  we  hope,  with- 
out the  need  of  any  great  length  of  discussion,  satisfac- 
torily to  answer.  And  subjects  more  important  in  these 
days,  I  know  not  where  to  find. 


THE   CHURCH   OF  CHRIST  IN  ITS  ESSENTIAL  BEING.          59 

We  must  enter  upon  their  consideration  with  the  two 
certainties  of  which  we  have  spoken  plainly  in   sight, 
namely,  whatever  we  make  the  Church,  to  be  members  is 
to  be  saved,  not  to  be  members  is  to  be  lost;   because  it 
is  simply  to  be,  or  not  to  be,  in  Christ.     And,  moreover, 
whatever  we  make  the  one  instrument  whereby  alone  we 
Become  members  of  Christ's  Church,  and  so  of  Christ 
himself,  be  it  the  living  faith  in  the  heart,  or  the  sacra- 
ment of  baptism  on  the  brow,  that  instrument  is  not  only 
absolutely   necessary,   in  every   case,  to  salvation,   but 
wherever  applied  must  be  saving,  simply  because  in  virtue 
thereof  we  are  in  Christ  Jesus.     And,  really,  when  we 
have  set  before  you  these  infinitely  momentous  conse- 
quences of  whatever  view  we  take,  we  seem  to  have  gone 
much  of  the  way  in  answering  the  questions  before  us. 
For  how  hard  it  is,  in  view  of  all  that  have  assuredly  died 
in  faith  without  having  received  the  outward  sign  of  bap- 
tism, as  many  of  the  martyrs  died,  and  then  of  all  who 
have  died,  without  faith,  having  that  sign,  as  millions  on 
millions  of  the  most  ungodly  have  died,  how  hard  to  be- 
lieve that  all  the  latter  died  in  the    Church  and  so  in 
Christ,  and  that  none  of  the  former  could  thus  die !     Not 
even  the  Romish  apostacy,  far  as  it  has  dared  to  avow  the 
monstrous  consequences  which  flow  from  its  corruptions 
of  Christian  doctrine,  has  ventured  entirely  to  maintain 
the  extreme  results  of  assigning  to  a  sacrament  so  easily 
received,  so  indiscriminately  possessed,  a  necessity  so  ab- 
solute, and  an  efficacy  so  saving.     What  is  the  invention 
of  a  baptism  "in  Hood"  and  "in  will"   (in  sanguine  and 
in  voto,  as  Rome's  standard  writers  speak,)  but  the  con- 
fession of  salvation  ivilhout  a  sacrament,  and  thus  a  virtual 


60  SERMON   III. 

denial  of  her  doctrine  of  sacramental  union  to  Christ  the 
only  union  ?  Nevertheless,  she  is  bound  to  the  honest 
avowal,  that  as,  by  her  own  declaration,  every  baptized 
man,  except  he  be  an  infidel,  or  a  heretic,  or  a  schismatic, 
is  in  Christ  Jesus,  by  a  living  union,  every  such  man  must 
have  part  in  the  salvation  of  Christ.  His  sacramental 
baptism  saves  him — for  as  long  as  that  sign  is  on  him,  he 
is  in  the  Church  and  in  Christ — and  to  call  in  other  sac- 
raments, to  bring  in  the  fires  of  purgatory,  in  order  to 
make  his  baptism  finally  saving,  is  to  flinch  from  the 
direct  consequences  of  her  doctrine,  and  virtually  deny  it. 

We  come  now  to  one  of  the  two  main  questions  which 
we  propose  to  answer  in  this  discourse,  namely : 

I.  In  what  consists  the  essential  being  of  the  Church 
of  Christ;  and,  consequently,  what  is  membership  in  the 
same  ?  We  shall  find  it  a  shorter  and  easier  question  than 
some  of  you  may  apprehend. 

But  let  us  mark  well,  that  the  question  is  not,  what  is 
the  Church  in  its  apostolic  appointments,  but  in  its  essen- 
tial existence;  not  the  polity,but  the  being;  not  what  makes 
the  Church  a  visible  organization  before  the  world,  but 
what  makes  it  the  mystical  body  of  Christ  before  God. 

The  difference  between  the  Church  in  its  essential  being 
before  God,  and  in  its  divinely  appointed  mode  of  mani- 
festation or  visible  profession  before  men,  is  precisely  the 
same  as  the  difference  between  the  inward  reality  of  com- 
munion with  God,  and  the  visible  profession  of  that  com- 
munion in  the  sacraments.  All  who  come  to  the  Lord's 
Supper  we  call  communicants;  we  do  not  mean  that  all  are 
really  communicants  in  the  salvation  of  Christ.  Bat 
we  name  them  what  they  profess  to  be.  A  ad  in  the  same 


THE   CHURCH   OF  CHRIST  IN  ITS  ESSENTIAL  BEING.         61 

way,  we  call  the  whole  body  of  those  who  come  to  that 
sacrament,  the  Church — the  body  of  Christ.  But  it  does 
not  follow  that  we  suppose  them  all  to  be  really,  spiritual- 
ly, of  the  Church  or  body  of  Christ,  We  name  them 
what  they  profess  to  be.  Professing  to  be  communicants, 
we  call  them  communicants.  Professing  to  be  Christians, 
we  call  them  Christians.  In  baptism,  professing  to  be 
regenerate,  they  are  spoken  of  as  regenerate  in  baptism. 
Professing,  in  the  several  ordinances  of  the  Church,  to  be 
the  Church,  they  are  called  the  Church;  although  we  do 
not  forget  the  declaration  of  St.  Paul :  "He  is  not  a  Jew 
which  is  one  outwardly ;  neither  is  that  circumcision  which 
is  outward  in  the  flesh ;  but  he  is  a  Jew  which  is  one  in- 
wardly, and  circumcision  is  that  of  the  heart,  in  the  spirit 
and  not  in  the  letter,"*  If  this  was  the  state  of  the 
case  under  the  ceremonial  dispensation,  how  much  more, 
if  possible,  must  it  be  under  the  more  spiritual  and  in- 
ward? How  emphatically  should  we  keep  in  mind,  that  he 
is  not  a  Christian  which  is  one  outwardly,  neither  is  that 
baptism  which  is  outward  in  the  flesh ;  but  he  is  a  Chris- 
tian who  is  one  inwardly,  and  the  true,  saving;  baptism  is 
that  of  the  heart,  in  the  spirit  and  not  in  the  letter;  and 
hence  the  Christian  Church  is  not  constituted  of  those 
who  are  Christians  in  the  sacrament  only,  which  is  outward 
in  the  flesh,  but  of  those  whose  baptism  is  that  of  the 
heart,  in  the  spirit. 

We  find  in  the  narrative  connected  with  the  text  a 
very  convenient  and  striking  illustration.  A  pestilence 
was  raging  among  the  people  of  Israel  in  the  reign  of 
David.  He  beheld  the  angel  of  the  Lord  stand  between 

*  Rom.  ii.  28,  29. 


G2  SEKMON   III. 

the  earth  and  heaven,  having  a  drawn  sword  in  his  hand, 
stretched  out  over  Jerusalem.  The  angel  "stood  by  the 
threshing  floor  of  Oman  the  Jebusite.  "  David  prayed 
that  his  hand  might  be  stayed.  The  Lord  commanded 
him  to  set  up  an  altar  on  that  floor.  He  did  so,  "  and 
offered  burnt- offerings  and  peace-offerings  and  called  upon 
the  Lord.  And  He  answered  him  from  heaven  by  fire  up- 
on the  altar  of  burnt-offering."  *  "  When  David  saw  that 
the  Lord  had  answered  him  in  the  threshing  floor  of  Oman, 
then  (it  is  written)  he  sacrificed  there;  "f  that  is,  he  con- 
tinued to  sacrifice  there,  notwithstanding  (as  the  next 
verse  says)  "the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord  and  the  altar  of 
the  burnt-offering  were  at  that  season  at  Gibeon.  "  Then 
David  said,  "  this  is  the  house  of  the  Lord  our  God.,  and 
this  is  the  altar  of  the  burnt-offering  for  Israel. "  The 
same  miraculous  indication  from  heaven  that  had  been 
given  at  the  consecration  of  the  tabernacle,  that  the 
house  of  the  Lord  was  there,  was  now  manifested  unto 
David,  that  the  house  of  the  Lord  was  that  open  thresh- 
ing floor.  The  Lord  answered  from  heaven  by  fire  upon 
the  altar. 

The  case  of  Jacob  at  Bethel  is  precisely  similar.  In 
the  open  field  he  sleeps.  The  vault  of  heaven  alone  is 
over  him.  God  appears  to  him.  He  awakes  and  says, 
"  Surely  the  Lord  is  in  this  place — this  is  none  other  but 
the  house  of  God — and  he  named  the  place  Bethel" — 
house  of  God.\  Now,  what  made  that  open  field  or  that 
naked  threshing  floor  the  house  of  the  Lord?  Jacob's 
words  afford  precisely  the  answer,  "  The  Lord  is  in  this 
place."  The  special  presence  of  the  Lord!  It  is  rest- 

*1  Chrcm.  xxi.  14-26.          fver.  28.          }Gen.  xxviii.  11-19. 


THE    CHURCH    OF   CHRIST  IN  IIS  ESSENTIAL  BEING.          63 

deuce  in  a  place,  not  walls,  that  makes  it  our  house.     It 
is  the  citizens,  not  their  edifices,  that  make  the  city. 

Now,  with  this  plain  light  from  the  Old  Testament,  as 
to  what  of  old  constituted  the  Lord's  house,  we  open  the 
New  Testament  to  see  what  makes  his  house  or  Church  in 
these  days.  I  find  the  house  of  God  declared  to  be  in 
every  true  servant  of  God;  and  that  which  gives  him  that 
character,  the  indwelling  of  God's  Spirit.  "  Know  ye  not 
that  your  body  is  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is 
in  you.  "  I  find  next  the  whole  community  of  God's 
people  called  his  temple.  "  Ye  are  the  temple  of  the 
living  God  (said  St.  Paul  to  the  Corinthians)  as  God 
hath  said,  I  zvill  dwell  in  them  and  walk  in  them.  "|  The 
indwelling  of  God  made  them  his  temple.  And  thus  the 
same  Apostle  says  to  the  Ephesians,  "Ye  are  builded  to- 
gether, for  an  habitation  of  God,  through  the  Spirit. "  J 
The  Spirit  abiding  in  them  made  them  the  habitation  of 
God.  Here  we  have  precisely  the  similar  case  to  that  of 
the  threshing  floor  of  Oman  the  Jebusite.  The  presence 
of  God  to  David  in  that  unwalled  space,  made  God's  house 
to  be  there.  The  indwelling  of  God  by  his  Spirit  in  any 
human  being  makes  him  his  temple.  The  same  indwell- 
ing of  the  Spirit  in  the  whole  community  of  God's  people, 
makes  it  all  his  temple — his  Church.  The  parts  are  not 
made  each  a  temple  by  being  first  united  to  the  whole. 
But  the  whole  communion  becomes  the  whole  temple  or 
Church,  by  the  aggregation  of  the  several  parts,  each  be- 
ing a  temple  in  itself.  God  dwells  in  the  community,  and 
so  makes  it  his  house,  by  dwelling  in  each  member  there- 
of, and  so  making  him  "the  habitation  of  God,  through 
the  Spirit.  " 

*1  Cor.  vi.  19.  f2  Cor.  vi.  16.  *  Ephes.  ii.  22. 


64  SERMON    III. 

Thus  we  have  found,  by  a  very  short  process,  the  es- 
sential being  of  the  Church — all  that  gives  it  a  spiritual, 
and  thus  all  that  gives  it  a  real,  existence  towards  God. 
Nothing  can  be  more  simple.  We  ask,  where  is  the  house 
of  the  Lord  our  God?  The  scriptures  answer,  wherever 
is  "  the  habitation  of  God  through  the  Spirit," — wherev- 
er his  Spirit  dwells.  And  thus  the  saying  of  Tertul- 
lian,  so  much  wondered  at  because  not  understood,  is  per- 
fectly scriptural :  "Wherever  three  are  met  together  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord,  there  is  the  Church"* — not  a 
Church  in  any  outward  equipment  or  visible  organization; 
but  the  Church,  the  habitation  of  God,  in  the  highest 
sense  of  spiritual  being.  And  why?  Simply  because  of 
the  Lord's  assurance :  "  There  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them. " 
I  dwell  in  them — they  are  thus  my  temple,  my  Church. 
And  to  the  same  effect  writes  St.  Paul:  "By  one  Spirit 
we  are  all  baptized  into  one  body- — and  have  all  been 
made  to  drink  into  one  Spirit.  "|  In  other  words,  the 
bond  which  makes  us  all  one  body  in  Christ — one  Church, 
is  not  an  outward  tie,  but  participation  in  the  same  inward 
life;  not  a  visible  sacrament  of  baptism,  but  that  baptism 
which  the  sacrament  signifies ;  the  being  baptised  ly 
the  Spirit,  the  drinking  into  one  Spirit,  as  the  living 
branches  drink  into  the  life  of  the  vine,  and  so  are  one 
body  therewith. 

Thus  we  have  ascertained  wherein  consists  the  being  of 
the  Church,  and  yet  have  only  incidentally  mentioned 
such  things  as  the  sacraments,  the  ministry,  or  any  out- 

*  Tertullian,  lib.  de  exhort.  Castitat.  cap.  vii.  Ubi  tres,  ecclesia  est,  licet 
laici.  Unusquisque  enim  sua  fide  vivit,  nee  est  personarum  acceptio  apud 
Deum  .  Quoniam  non  auditores  legis  justificantur,  sed  factores. 

•i  1   Cor.  xii.  13. 


THE   CHURCH   OF    CHRIST  IN  ITS  ESSENTIAL  BEING.         65 

ward  order.  We  have  found  that  whatever  the  necessity 
of  these,  by  divine  appointment,  to  the  w^-being  of  the 
Church,  they  are  not  necessary  as  elements  of  its  being ; 
however  necessary  as  means  of  establishing,  extending, 
and  continuing  the  Church,  they  are  not  parts  of  its  es- 
sential structure. 

The  moment  we  get  this  view  of  the  Church,  as  quite 
another  thing  in  its  essential  constitution  from  the  ordi- 
nances which  God  has  connected  therewith,  the  way  is 
plain  to  the  decision  of  the  connected  and  important  in- 
quiry, ivhat  is  the  divinely  appointed  instrument  ivhereby  we 
'become  members  of  the  Church  ?  We  have  seen  that  what- 
ever makes  any  man  "  the  habitation  of  God,  through  the 
Spirit,"  makes  him  also  a  member  of  God's  Church; 
since  the  latter  is^  simply  the  community  of  all  those  in 
whom,  individually,  God's  Spirit  dwells.  In  other  words, 
the  Church  in  its  real,  interior  being,  is  the  aggregate  of 
all  branches  of  the  True  Vine;  all  real  branches;  all  that  are 
united  to  the  Vine  by  an  internal,  vital  bond,  in  partaking 
of  its  life ;  not  of  such  branches,  in  connection  with  those 
which,  however  professedly  and  reputedly  branches,  are 
only  so  in  appearance,  by  an  outward  insertion  and  the  tie 
of  a  visible  bond  5  (that  is  the  visible  Church  as  seen  of 
men;)  but  of  such  branches  only  as  commune  in  the  Vine's 
own  life,  and  by  that  oneness  of  spiritual  life  are  united 
not  only  to  the  Vine,  but  among  themselves  also ;  all 
abiding  in  Christ  by  the  fellowship  of  his  Spirit,  and  he 
thus  abiding  in  each  of  them.  That  is  the  Church  of 
Christ.  Union  to  that  Church  and  union  to  Christ  are, 
therefore,  identical.  Now,  what  is  the  order  ?  Is  it  first, 
union  to  the  Church  in  order  to  union  to  Christ;  or  union 


66  SERMON   III. 

to  the  Vine  first,  in  order  to  membership  with  the  branch- 
es ?  St.  Peter  decides,  and  well  it  were  if  those  who  claim 
to  have  such  special  succession  from  him,  would  better  re- 
ceive his  words,  "  To  whom  coming,  as  unto  a  living  stone — 
ye  also,  as  lively  stones,  are  built  up  a  spiritual  house" 
a  holy  Church — the  habitation  of  God  through  the  Spirit.* 
Now,  observe  that  this  spiritual  house  is  made  of  none 
but  living  stones — each  is  a  real  living  Christian.  The 
Church  of  God  contains  none  else  in  his  sight.  Observe, 
also,  chat  the  stones  do  not  become  living  in  consequence  of 
being  built  up  into  the  Church,  as  if  the  life  were  thence 
communicated;  but  they  are  built  up  into  the  Church  as  a 
consequence  of  being  already  living,  they  together  making 
the  living  Church,  and  not  the  Church  making  them.  Ob- 
serve, again,  that  it  is  by  the  coming  of  each  separate 
stone  to  Christ  as  the  living  head  of  the  corner,  and  being 
joined  unto  him,  that  gives  it  life,  and  it  is  that  coming 
and  union  that  joins  each  stone  to  every  other  by  oneness 
of  life  in  Christ,  and  thus  builds  up  the  spiritual  house. 
The  whole  building  is  "fitly  framed  together  in  Christ." 
Thus  the  order :  We  come  to  Christ  that  we  may  come  to 
his  Church;  not  first  the  Church  that  we  may,  through 
union  therewith,  become  members  of  Christ.  If  we  were 
speaking  of  the  visible  Church,  and  of  visible  or  professed 
union  to  Christ,  we  should  say :  Come  to  the  Church,  be- 
cause only  by  its  visible  forms  and  signs  can  you  be  pro- 
fessedly in  Christ.  But  it  is  of  the  Church  in  its  spiritual 
being,  without  reference  to  its  visible  institutions,  that  we 
are  now  speaking,  and  hence  the  order — coming  to  Christ 
— thus  made  alive  unto  God — and  so  built  up  in  his  spir- 
itual house. 

*  2  Pet.  ii.  4-5. 


THE   CHURCH   OF   CHRIST  IN  ITS  ESSENTIAL  BEING.         67 

But  how  do  we  come  to  Christ  ?  Peter  gives  his  testi- 
mony again :  "  Wherefore,  also,  it  is  contained  in  scripture. 
Behold  I  lay  in  Zion  a  chief  corner  stone,  and  he  that  be- 
tieveth  on  him  shall  not  be  confounded.  "*  Thus  he  that 
lelieveth  on,  is  he  that  cometh  to,  that  living  corner  stone. 
It  is  faith  that  saves  us  from  being  confounded,  because  it 
is  faith  that  makes  us  partakers  of  Christ.  Thus  we  have 
another  step  in  the  order.  A  living  faith  brings  us  to 
Christ.  By  partaking  of  his  Spirit  we  are  united  unto 
him  in  oneness  of  inward  life,  and  all  who  have  that  same 
union  to  Christ  are  thereby  united  to  one  another,  in  one 
spiritual  communion  and  fellowship,  which  is  the  Church 
of  Christ.  Thus  a  living  faith  is  God's  ordained  means 
whereby  we  are  made  members  of  his  spiritual  house,  his 
living  Church,  unto  which  are  the  promises  and  by  which 
he  is  glorified. 

Now,  my  brethren,  let  me  remind  you  of  the  position 
from  which  we  set  out,  namely:  that  whatever  the  Church 
may  be,  to  be  found  therein  is  to  be  saved,  not  to  be 
found  therein  is  to  be  lost;  because  it  is  to  be  found  or 
not  found  in  Christ.  And,  again,  that  whatever  be  the 
instrument  whereby  we  are  made  members  of  the  Church, 
outward  ordinance,  or  inward  faith,  it  is  not  only  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  salvation,  but  must  be  absolutely 
saving,  and  all  who  are  thus  in  the  Church  must  have 
peace  with  God.  Taking  the  view  we  have  given  of 
what  constitutes  the  Church,  and  what  instrumentally 
unites  us  thereto,  these  positions  are  not  only  true,  but 
exactly  consistent  with  all  else  in  the  scriptures,  and  in 
religion.  They  are  but  another  mode  of  saying,  "He 

*  1  Pet.  ii :  6. 


68 


SERMON   III. 


that  believeth  in  Jesus  shall  be  saved,  and  he  that  be- 
lieveth  not  shall  be  damned."  Taking  any  other  view 
of  the  being  of  the  Church,  and  of  what  instrumentally 
makes  us  members  thereof;  say  that  the  Church  is  made 
up  of  all  who  are  joined  together  in  a  visible  fellowship  by 
the  bonds  of  visible  ordinances;  that  every  baptized  per- 
son is  a  member,  and  no  unbaptized  person  can  be ;  then 
consider  who  the  baptized  every  where  are — that  most  la- 
mentable mixture  of  tares  and  wheat,  that  awful  conjunc- 
tion and  confusion  of  godly  and  ungodly;  and  can  you 
say  that  all,  because  in  the  Church,  have  peace  with  God? 
But  why  not,  if  they  are  in  the  true  Church — in  the  body 
of  Christ  ?  If  not,  are  your  views  of  the  being  of  the 
Church  and  what  makes  a  member,  consonant  with  the 
scriptures?  Can  they  be  in  Christ  and  not  in  God's 
peace  ? 

II.  We  proceed  to  the  other  question  proposed.  If 
the  sacraments  and  other  visible  ordinances  of  the  Church 
are  not  essential  to  its  being,  in  ivhat  relation  do  they  stand 
thereto  ?  Mark  well  the  question,  lest  we  be  misunder- 
stood. It  is  not,  what  are  the  several  objects,  wcs,  benefits, 
towards  the  Church,  or  the  Christian,  for  which  the  sacra- 
ments, &c.,  were  ordained — but  the  much  narrower  ques- 
tion, what  is  the  relation  they  stand  in  toward  the  essen- 
tial being  of  the  Church,  and  consequently  of  the  Chris- 
tian? 

We  look  back  to  the  narrative  of  David  on  the  thresh- 
ing-floor of  Oman  the  Jebusite.  In  one  verse  we  have 
him  saying  of  that  open  floor,  simply  because  God's  pres- 
ence was  there:  "  This  is  the  house  of  the  Lord  our  God;" 
— and  in  the  next  verse  we  read  that  he  "  set  masons  to 


THE   CHURCH   OF  CHRIST  IN  ITS  ESSENTIAL  BEING.         69 

hew  stones  to  build  (in  that  place)  the  house  of  God  " — 
and  afterwards  we  find  the  magnificent  temple  of  Solomon 
erected  on  that  very  spot,  and  customarily  spoken  of  in 
the  subsequent  scriptures,  as  the  house  of  God.  How  is 
this  ?  Two  houses  in  the  same  place — the  invisible  and 
visible?  or  the  same  house  under  different  relations — 
first  in  its  invisible  being,  made '  a  temple  by  God's  pres- 
ence, next  in  its  visible  form,  made  a  visible  temple  by 
walls  and  courts  and  altars? 

The  plain  truth  is,  that  when  the  stately  sanctuary  of 
Solomon  was  erected  over  and  around  the  place  which 
David  long  before  had  pronounced  to  be  the  temple  of 
God,  since  the  presence  of  God  was  no  more  there  than  it 
was  before,  it  was  no  more  really  God's  temple.  Take 
away  the  walls  and  courts,  and  leave  the  divine  presence, 
and  the  temple  is  there  still.  Of  what  use  then  were  the 
walls  and  courts  and  altars,  and  all  the  imposing  ceremo- 
nial connected  therewith?  We  answer,  they  gave  visibil- 
ity to  that  otherwise  invisible  house  of  the  Lord.  They 
were  its  conspicuous  notes  and  marks.  They  did  not 
give  it  being,  but  they  gave  it  visible,  sensible,  being. 
God  needed  them  not  in  order  to  recognize  his  temple; 
but  man  did.  Thus  there  was  a  sense  in  which  the  out- 
ward and  visible  building  was  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
while  the  real  house  was  there  without  it.  It  was  the 
form  of  that  spiritual  house,  and  called  therefore  the  house. 
So  we  call  our  liturgy  prayer,  when  it  is  only  a  form  of 
prayer.  Words,  however,  are  signs  and  expressions  of 
prayer,  and  we  call  them  prayer,  with  no  risk  of  being 
understood  to  mean  that  prayer  is  so  identical  therewith 
that  it  must  be  where  they  are,  or  cannot  be  where  they 
are  not. 


70  SERMON    III. 

Let  us  now  apply  what  has  been  said  of  the  temple 
of  Jerusalem  to  illustrate  the  relation  of  the  sacraments 
and  other  ordinances  of  the  Church,  to  the  Church  itself. 
During  the  interval  between  the  death  of  Christ  and 
the  setting  up  of  the  visible  Church  by  the  administra- 
tion of  baptism  to  the  three  thousand  on  the  day  of  Pen- 
tecost, there  was  certainly  a  Church.  Since  the  begin- 
ning of  the  world,  God  had  always  his  house,  his  habita- 
tion through  the  Spirit,  in  this  world.  One  hundred  and 
twenty  disciples,  believers  in  Jesus,  commanded  by  him 
to  continue  in  Jerusalem  till  they  should  receive  the 
promise  of  the  Father,  were  gathered  together  in  Jeru- 
salem, in  his  name,  and  he,  according  to  his  promise,  was 
in  the  midst  of  them.  They  were  thus  his  temple.  And 
presently  the  Lord  visibly  declared  they  were  his  temple, 
precisely  as  he  declared  the  same  of  the  threshing-floor 
of  Oman,  or  the  tabernacle  of  Moses.  "  There  came  a 
sound  from  heaven,  as  of  a  rushing  mighty  wind,  and  it 
filled  all  the  house  where  they  were  sitting,  and  there  ap- 
peared unto  them  cloven  tongues,  like  as  of  fire,  and  it 
sat  upon  each  of  them,  and  they  were  all  filled  with  the 
Holy  Ghost." 

But  as  yet,  the  Church  of  Christ  had  no  administration 
of  sacraments.  It  was  like  the  house  of  the  Lord  in  the 
threshing-floor  of  Oman,  when  it  had  no  walls.  The 
baptism  ministered  before  the  death  of  Christ  was  not 
the  sacramental  baptism  of  the  Christian  Church.  The 
Lord's  Supper  had  been  administered  to  only  eleven  out 
of  the  hundred  and  twenty,  and  then  while  the  Jewish 
dispensation  still  existed.  The  sacraments  were  in  being 
only  as  appointments  for  a  time  to  come.  They  had  no 


THE   CHURCH    OF  CHRIST  IN  ITS  ESSENTIAL  BEING.         71 

hand  in  constituting  the  Church  that  then  was.  But  that 
Church  nevertheless  was  just  as  really  the  Church  of  God, 
as  it  has  been  ever  since.  Composed  of  living  stones, 
built  upon  the  precious  corner  stone  which  God  had  laid, 
and  inhabited  by  "  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus,  " 
it  was  in  every  essential  respect  "the  temple  of  the  living 

God." 

But  the  Church,  then  made  visible  as  such,  only  by  mi- 
raculous signs,  in  order  that  it  might  come  into  contact  with 
the  world  in  which  its  work  is  to  be  done,  must  have   a 
visible  and  permanent  form  or  body.     It  is  not  enough 
that  God  knoweth  them  that  are  his.     Man  must  see  who 
profess  to  be  his.     An  angel  host  may  dwell  among  us 
in  all  the  perfectness  of  their  being,  but  until  they  put 
on  some  visible  shape  we  cannot  know  their  presence. 
Man  comes  in  contact  with  man,  only  through  the  means 
of  a  visible  form— the  body  he  lives  in.     The  Church, 
as  a  spiritual  house,  can  be  known  to  the  world  only 
through  a  similar  form.     So,  then,  when  the  Apostles 
proceeded  to  place  the  Church  in  its  appointed  relations 
to  the  world,  they  invested  it  with  a  body  of  visible  ordi- 
nances, which  the  Lord  had  appointed,  and  such  as,  by 
their  fewness  and  simplicity,  were  suited  to  a  dispensation 
intended  to  embrace  all  nations.     No  sooner  had  David 
ascertained  the  house  of  the  Lord,  than  he  set  men  to 
hew  stones  to  build  its  walls.     No  sooner  had  the  Lord 
declared,  by  the  manifestation  of  the  Spirit  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost,  that  in  those  hundred  and  twenty  disciples 
was  his  Church,  than  the  Apostles  began  to  preach  the 
word  and  baptize.     Thousands  were  the  same  day  turned 
to  the  Lord,  and,  by  faith,  were  joined  to  Christ,  and  so  to 


72  SERMON    III. 

his  Church.  What  was  thus  invisibly  done,  they  were  re- 
quired openly  to  confess.  They  were  baptized  in  the 
sacramental  sign,  as  they  had  been  already  in  the  spirit- 
ual reality.  Thus  they  became,  not  more  really  members 
of  Christ,  but  more  visibly;  as  a  king,  by  his  coronation, 
is  no  more  a  king,  but  only  more  formally  and  declara- 
tively. 

But  as  baptism  is  only  once  in  a  Christian's  life,  a  sac- 
rament more  permanently  in  sight  was  needed  for  the 
full  visibility  of  the  Church.  The  Lord  had  prepared 
and  directed  it.  The  Apostles  added  therefore  to  the 
baptized,  the  sacrament  of  communion  in  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ.  Thus  the  Church,  with  both  the  sacra- 
mental marks  and  signs  which  the  Lord  had  ordained, 
and  with  a  divinely  appointed  ministry  preaching  the  pure 
word  of  God,  was  fully  set  up  in  its  visible  form,  as  be- 
fore in  its  invisible  being.  "  They  that  gladly  received 
the  word  were  baptized,  and  they  continued  steadfastly 
in  the  Apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  in  breaking  of 
bread  and  in  prayers." 

Now,  in  all  this  account  of  the  difference  between  the 
Church  as  it  is,  and  the  Church  as  it  is  visible,  in  ordi- 
nances, we  have  had  in  view  the  language  of  our  stand- 
ards. When  the  object  is  to  declare  simply  what  the 
Church  of  Christ  is,  without  reference  to  how  it  is  known, 
the  description  is,  "the  Messed  company  of  all  faithful  peo- 
ple ;"*  in  other  words,  all  believers  in  Jesus.  But  when 
the  object  is  not  only  the  spiritual  being  of  the  Church 
before  God,  but  its  visible  form  before  men;  what  indi- 
cates as  well  as  what  constitutes  it ;  then  the  Homily  for 

*  Communion  office. 


THE   CHURCH   OF  CHRIST  IN  ITS  ESSENTIAL  BEING.         73 

Whit-Sunday  says:  "The  true  Church  is  an  universal 
congregation  or  fellowship  of  God's  faithful  and  elect 
people,  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  Apostles  and 
Prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner 
stone.  "  So  much  for  what  it  is  in  its  essential  constitu- 
tion. Then  the  Homily  proceeds:  "And  it  hath  always 
these  notes  or  marks  whereby  it  is  known :  Pure  and 
sound  doctrine,  the  sacraments  ministered  according  to 
Christ's  holy  institution,  and  the  right  use  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal discipline."*  So  much  for  what  makes  it  visible. 

Thus  our  standards  place  the  sacraments  and  ministry 
in  relation  to  the  inward  being  of  the  Church,  exactly 
where  they  put  them  as  to  the  spiritual  being  of  the  in- 
dividual Christian.  A  man  is  not  qualified  for  the  sacra- 

*  The  declaration  of  Bishop  Ridley  in  the  Conferences  between  him  and 
Latimer  during  their  imprisonment,  are  remarkably  illustrative  of  the  above 
passage  from  the  Homilies.  Ridley  supposes  the  Romish  adversary  whom  he 
calls  Antoninus,  to  say:  "Without  the  Church,  (saith  St.  Augustine,)  be  the 
life  never  so  well  spent,  it  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  heaven. "  To 
which  Ridley  answers  by  defining  what  the  Church  is — and  how  it  is  marked, 
and  thus  making  no  objection  to  the  truth  of  the  adversary's  position,  provided 
the  Church  spoken  of  were  rightly  understood.  He  says  :  "The  holy  Cath- 
olic or  universal  Church,  which  is  the  communion  of  the  saints,  the  house  of 
God,  the  city  of  God,  the  spouse  of  Christ,  the  body  of  Christ,  the  pillar  and 
stay  of  truth  ;  this  Church,  I  believe,  according  to  the  Creed  ;  this  Church  I 
do  reverence  and  honor  in  the  Lord — the  marks  whereby  this  Church  are 
known  to  me  in  this  dark  world  are  these  :  The  sincere  preaching  of  God's 
word  ;  the  due  administration  of  the  sacraments  ;  charity  ;  and  faithful  observ- 
ing of  ecclesiastical  discipline,  according  to  the  word  of  God.  And  that 
Church  which  is  garnished  with  these  marks,  is  in  very  deed  that  heavenly  Je- 
rusalem which  consisteth  of  those  that  be  born  from  above.  Forth  of  this  I  grant 
there  is  no  salvation. "  Soon  after,  Bishop  Ridley  more  particularly  describ- 
ing the  constituency  of  the  Church,  says  :  "  That  Church  which  is  Christ's 
body,  and  of  which  he  is  the  head,  standeth  only  of  living  stones  and  true 
Christians,  not  only  outwardly  in  name  and  title,  but  inwardly  in  heart  and 
in  truth."  Ridley's  Works,  Parkers'  Society  Edition,  pages  123  and  126. 

Nothing  can  be  plainer  than  the  above  distinction  of  Ridley's  between  the 
Church,  as  consisting  of  all,  arid  only  of  those  who  are  true  Christians  in  heart 
and  tiuth,  and  as  made  known  or  visible  by  the  sacraments,  <fec. 


74  SERMON    III. 

ment  of  baptism  until  he  has  been  baptized;  that  is,  until 
he  has  received  that  inward  grace,  that  baptism  of  the 
Spirit,  which  the  sacrament  signifies.  He  must  repent 
and  believe — he  must  first  be  a  Christian,  and  then  re- 
ceive the  marks  and  notes  of  a  Christian.  But  still  he  is 
said  by  the  Church  to  be  made  in  baptism  "a  member  of 
Christ,  and  a  child  of  God;"  because  while  his  previous 
religious  life  was  seen  of  God,  the  Church  can  know  him 
only  from  the  period  of  his  professing  a  religious  life,  and 
in  her  register  dates  his  being  made  a  child  of  God  from 
the  day  when  she  began  to  know  him  as  such.  His  be- 
coming a  child  of  God  was  really  when  he  repented  and 
believed  in  Jesus.  His  becoming  such  in  the  sight  of 
the  Church  was  when  he  professed  repentance  and  faith 
in  the  sacrament  of  baptism.  So  we  say  a  man  receives 
the  conveyance  of  an  estate  when  he  receives  the  signed 
and  sealed  title-deed,  though  he  was  really  the  owner 
from  the  time  he  paid  for  it.  The  human  tribunal  can- 
not take  knowledge  of  the  private  transaction ;  but  re- 
quires the  visible  instrument,  and  makes  its  date  the  be- 
ginning of  ownership.  Such  is  the  case  as  necessarily  in 
the  Church  as  in  the  state.  A  man  is  made  a  member  of 
Christ  in  baptism,  who  was  a  member  before  by  a  living 
faith,  because  then  he  receives  the  visible  instrument  by 
which  only  the  Church  can  know  him.  A  community  of 
Christ's  people  begins  to  be  his  Church  before  the  eyes  of 
men,  when  it  becomes  clothed  with  those  outward  ordi- 
nances which  make  it  visible  as  such  to  men. 

Our  Church,  when  speaking  with  reference  to  our 
standing  and  privileges  in  the  visible  Church,  dates  the 
time  when  we  were  made  children  of  God  at  our  sacra- 


THE   CHURCH   OF  CHRIST   IN   ITS   ESSENTIAL   BEING.       75 

mental  baptism ;  because  then  we  were  made  professedly 
such.  But  when  she  speaks  of  our  standing  before  God 
who  looketh  on  the  heart  and  needs  no  sacramental  signs 
to  mark  us,  then,  as  everywhere  in  her  Homilies,  she  leaves 
the  sacramental  sign  out  of  sight  and  speaks  only  of  what 
it  signifies,  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  new  birth 
unto  righteousness;  and  dates  the  beginning  of  Christian 
life  and  hope  from  thence.  This  is  the  key  which  not 
only  fits  the  wards  of  our  Church  standards,  but  unlocks 
what,  in  some  of  our  oldest  and  best  divines,  Bishop  Bev- 
ericlge,  for  example,  seems  contradictory ;  so  that  to  some 
they  seem  to  teach  the  very  doctrine  of  baptismal  regen- 
eration and  justification  which  they  expressly  deny. 

And,  now,  in  the  concluding  part  of  this  discourse,  lest 
in  what  we  have  said  concerning  the  relation  of  the  out- 
ward order  to  the  inward  being  of  the  Church,  we  should 
seem  in  any  degree  to  favor  that  neglect  of  ordinances  to 
which  some  minds  in  avoiding  the  opposite  extreme  of 
undue  reliance  on  them  are  so  apt  to  run,  we  must  take 
you  once  more  to  the  threshing  floor  of  Oman  the  Jebu- 
site,  and  the  temple  built  thereon. 

That  magnificent  temple,  with  all  its  various  ceremoni- 
al appurtenances,  was,  as  we  have  seen,  not  the  house  of 
the  Lord,  but  only  the  visible  form  of  that  house,  and  for 
that  reason  only  was  called  the  temple.  But  it  must  be 
noted  emphatically  that  as  a  form,  it  was  all  divinely  ap- 
pointed. As  the  tabernacle  was  made  by  Moses  accord- 
ing to  the  pattern  which  God  had  showed  him  in  the 
Mount;  so  the  temple  was  built  by  Solomon,  after  a  pat- 
tern which  David  his  father  had  received  of  the  Lord, 
and  of  which  David  said  to  him :  "  All  this  the  Lord 


76 


SERMON   III. 


made  me  understand,  in  writing  by  his  hand  upon  me, 
even  all  the  works  of  this  pattern.  "*  The  altars  and 
courts  and  walls  of  that  structure  did  not  make  it  the 
house  of  the  Lord,  but  they  were  as  much  of  divine  com- 
mand as  if  they  did.  The  form  was  not  the  being,  but 
God  appointed  that  form  for  that  being,  and  no  man  could 
put  them  asunder  without  profaneness.  If  the  one  was 
very  subordinate  to  the  other,  both  were  sacred;  both  to 
be  reverenced  as  nothing  of  man's  ordaining  should 
ever  be. 

We  turn  again  to  the  visible  ordinances  of  the  house  of 
God,  under  the  gospel.  They  are  very  few  and  simple,  as 
suits  the  more  spiritual  aspect,  and  the  more  active  work 
of  a  Church  which  must  be  as  much  at  home  in  the  wil- 
derness as  in  the  city,  on  the  march  of  missionary  inva- 
sion as  in  the  oldest  and  most  fixed  dwelling  place  of 
Christianity.  The  Jewish  ritual  was  for  a  single  nation 
and  a  narrow  territory.  The  work  of  that  dispensation 
was  in  no  sense  aggressive.  It  was  to  preserve,  not  to 
spread  the  knowledge  of  God — a  light  to  be  kept  within 
the  veil  of  the  sanctuary,  not  to  be  carried  abroad  into 
surrounding  paganism.  It  was  a  sentinel  on  the  walls; 
a  witness  to  testify;  a  prophet  to  be  ever  pointing  towards 
the  more  perfect  dispensation.  Thus  stationary,  it  could 
bear  the  weight  of  cumbrous  ordinances.  But  the  Chris- 
tian dispensation  is  for  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
earth.  Its  business  is  conquest;  breaking  down  the 
kingdom  of  Satan;  making  captive  all  nations  to  Christ; 
never  to  be  stationary  till  that  work  is  done.  On  such 
an  errand,  the  Church,  like  the  first  Apostles,  must  carry 
little  weight,  nothing  but  staff  and  scrip.  The  water, 

*  1  Chron.  xxviii:  11,  12,  19. 


THE   CHURCH   OF   CHRIST   IN   ITS   ESSENTIAL   BEING.        77 

the  bread,  and  the  word;  Baptism,  the  Supper  of  the 
Lord,  and  the  trump  of  the  Gospel,  are  all  her  equip- 
ments. These  are  notes  and  marks  which  God  has  made 
as  essential  to  her  divinely  appointed  visible  form,  as  the 
dwelling  of  his  Spirit  in  the  hearts  of  his  people  is  essen- 
tial to  her  invisible  being.  There  is  nothing  more  foolish 
than  to  suppose  that  because  the  exterior  of  the  Church 
is  not  the  Church,  because  the  ordinances  of  religion  are 
not  religion,  they  may  be  treated  with  little  religious 
regard.  Do  those  who  are  prone  to  such  thoughts, 
imagine  the  same  with  regard  to  another  form;  that  which 
makes  their  own  being  a  visible  being — namely,  their 
own  bodies?  God  has  joined  the  soul  and  body  of  man 
together  in  this  life,  by  a  bond  which  only  death  is  per- 
mitted to  break.  No  man  supposes  that  his  body  is  his 
life;  he  knows  that  the  soul  is  essentially  the  man;  but 
he  knows  that  the  soul  is  an  inhabitant  of  this  world, 
only  as  long  as  the  body  is  its  habitation;  that  it  can 
give  no  sign  of  life  nor  hold  any  communication  with  this 
world,  but  by  that  bodily  form.  The  ordinances  of  the 
senses  and  of  speech  and  motion  are  its  visible  being, 
though  not  its  being.  Their  actings  and  re-actings,  one 
upon  another,  are  continual  and  necessary.  The  well-being 
of  each  requires  the  constant  keeping  of  the  other  in 
health  and  vigor.  It  is  the  madman  that  says,  the  body 
is  not  the  spirit,  and  therefore  I  will  not  regard  it. 
"What  God  hath  joined  together  let  no  man  put  asunder." 
In  the  same  way,  has  God  joined  together  in  this  life, 
the  spiritual  being  of  his  Church  and  a  certain  body  of 
divinely  instituted  ordinances,  without  which  the  former 
is  permitted  to  have  no  fixed  habitation  in  this  world, 


78  SERMON    III. 

nor  any  means  of  manifesting  itself  as  a  Church  of  God, 
before  the  world.  And  while  it  is  a  most  important 
truth  that  these  are  not  religion,  but  only  its  forms,  we 
must  maintain  that  precisely  in  proportion  as  they  are 
neglected  by  any  branch  of  the  visible  Church,  must  the 
life  of  true  piety  therein  be  damaged.  True,  we  can 
easily  suppose  a  servant  of  God  with  the  word  in  his 
mind,  and  the  Spirit  of  Christ  in  his  heart,  separated  by 
divine  Providence  from  all  public  and  social  means  of 
grace,  and  yet  living  unto  God  in  the  highest  spiritual 
health,  the  Lord  working  in  him  independently  of  those 
means  of  grace  from  which  his  own  dispensation  has  sep- 
arated him.  But  let  him  be  returned  to  the  bosom  of  Chris- 
tian fellowship,  and  then  if  he  wilfully  come  not  to  the 
public  sacrifice  of  prayer  and  praise,  and  neglect  the 
ministry  of  the  word,  and  the  sacrament  of  communion 
in  the  atonement  of  Christ,  he  must  decline  in  grace. 
His  confession  of  Christ  before  men  is  effaced.  However 
he  may  hope  that  in  his  private  life  he  can  shed  the 
influence  of  a  Christian  example  on  those  around  him, 
that  life  is  but  an  evil  example  of  the  manifest  inconsis- 
tency of  professing  to  be  a  follower  of  Christ,  and  yet 
wilfully  dishonoring  institutions  of  Christ,  divinely  ap- 
pointed means  of  grace,  as  binding  in  their  place  as  any 
obligations  of  the  scripture. 

Still  stronger  appears  the  case  when  we  speak  of  the 
Church  instead  of  the  individual  Christian.  There  is  such 
a  thing  as  destroying  the  spirit  of  religion  in  the  visible 
Church,  by  overloading  the  simple  institutions  of  Christ 
with  rites  and  ordinances  of  human  invention.  But  there 
is  another  extreme  not  less  fatal.  Two  ways  there  are  of 


THE   CHUECH   OF   CHEIST   IN   ITS   ESSENTIAL  BEING. 


79 


dishonoring  the  Gospel  and  doing  damage  to  our  own 
souls,  as  regards  the  divinely  instituted  ordinances  of  tr 
Church.     We  may  undervalue  and  overvalue  them, 
diminutive  estimate  of  their  use,  you  deny  them  the  pU 
which  God  has  given  them.     By  an  exaggerated  estimate, 
you  appoint  them  a  place  which  God  has  denied  them, 
a  misguided  zeal  for  the  inward  life  of  all  religion,  you 
may  do  great  injustice  to  its  ordained  means  of  growth. 
Out  of  an  Inordinate  concentration  of  interest  upon  the 
sacramental  signs  and  means,  you  may  grievously  , 
honor  the  nature  and  hinder  the  growth  of  inward  piety. 
Make  the  sacraments,  in  effect,  identical  with  the  com- 
munication of  grace,  and  we  cannot  undervalue  them,  i, 
that  respect,  for  thus  they  are  not  what  God  made  them. 
Make  them  only  signs  and    effectual    means  of  grace, 
depending  on  the  faith  and  prayer  of  those  who  come  to 
them,  and  we  cannot  overvalue  them,  except  we  give  them 
a  higher  place  than  the  ministry  of  the  word  of  God. 

We  must  carefully  guard  against  both  the  extremes 
which  I  have  adverted  to.     Which  is  the  worst  I  have  no 
wish  to  decide.     But  I  see  not  why  the  one  error  should 
be  supposed  the  result  of  a  specially  reverential  spirit, 
and  the  other  of  an  irreverent.     If  I  find  a  man  who 
out  of  a  pious  fear  of  leading  sinners  away  from  t 
and  from  the  spiritual  power  of  godliness,  to  a  resting 
in  its  more  lifeless  form,  unduly  and  injuriously 
ciates  the  sacraments  in  comparison  with  the  preaching 
of  the  gospel,  I  see  not  that  I  may  not  attribute  his  error 
to  an  humble  reverence  for  his  Master,  at  least  as  much 
as  that  of  the  man  who  out  of  an  earnest  zeal 
visible  Church,  so  exalts  the  sacraments  as  to  change 


80  SERMON    III. 

their  whole  character  from  signs  of  grace  to  grace  itself; 
so  magnifies  the  ministry  of  the  Church,  under  the  name 
of  a  sacrificing  priesthood,  as  not  only  to  deprive  the 
preaching  of  the  word  of  its  rightful  honor  and  value, 
but  to  put  our  Lord's  ever-living  priesthood  almost  out 
of  sight,  and  make  the  coming  of  a  sinner  to  sacraments 
ministered  by  a  priesthood  of  men,  to  be  all  that  is 
meant  by  his  coming  to  Christ.  I  see  no  godly  reverence 
in  this.  Sacraments  which  point  me  and  help  me  to 
Christ,  I  understand  and  reverence  and  love  as  God's  own 
means  of  grace.  Sacraments  which  say  then  are  Christ 
to  me,  and  which  profess  to  give  me  grace  for  which  the 
scriptures  bid  me  look  unto  Jesus;  sacraments  and  min- 
istries which  thus  stand  in  the  way  of  my  feeling  the 
need  and  preciousness  of  a  direct  and  constant  communi- 
cation between  my  soul  and  the  present  intercession  of 
Jesus  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  independently  of  all  or- 
dinances and  all  human  intervention,  are  sacraments  and 
ministries  most  sadly  perverted,  and  over  which  a  godly 
reverence  has  only  to  mourn  such  dishonoring  of  the 
Gospel  and  of  Christ. 

There  is  the  form  of  godliness,  and  there  is  the  power; 
both  of  God.  Each  has  its  peculiar  importance.  The 
great  evil  is  in  confounding  them ;  putting  one  for  the 
other;  being  satisfied  with  either  without  the  other. 
Just  as  the  inspired  word,  the  appointed  instrument  of 
sanctification,  is  dependent  for  its  efficacy  on  the  faith 
that  receives  it,  so  are  the  sacraments.  The  form  of 
grace  is  in  the  latter ;  the  form  of  truth  is  in  the  former ; 
in  themselves  only  forms;  to  the  unbelieving  equally  in- 
efficacious ;  to  the  believing  alike  means  of  grace  from 


THE    CHURCH   OF   CHRIST   IN   ITS   ESSENTIAL   BEING.       8l 

God  whereby  he  carries  on  his  good  work  in  the  hearts  of 
his  people. 

Great  care  must  we  take,  lest  in  giving  these  divinely 
ordained  and  precious  means  their  right  place  of  most 
reverent  estimation,  our  minds  rest  too  much  upon  them, 
instead  of  passing  intelligently  through  them  to  the 
clearer  seeing  of  Christ  and  the  more  vigorous  apprehend- 
ing, by  faith,  of  all  his  promised  grace ;  lest  we  make  them 
objects  instead  of  mediums;  like  a  man  using  his  spectacles  as 
things  to  look  at,  instead  of  things  to  look  with.  Great  care 
must  we  take  lest  we  narrow  the  communion  of  our  souls 
with  Christ  to  the  single  avenue  of  outward  and  ministe- 
rial means  of  grace,  and  thus  deprive  our  souls  of  the 
blessedness  of  that  habitual  walk  of  faith,  wherein  it  is 
the  believer's  privilege  to  be  always  going  directly  and 
most  freely  to  his  Saviour,  as  well  in  his  daily  exercises  of 
heart  as  in  the  solemnities  of  the  sanctuary;  great  care 
lest  out  of  a  disproportioned  reverence  for  sacramental  in- 
stitutions we  place  in  any  secondary  rank  among  means 
of  grace,  that  great  instrument  of  God  in  awakening  a 
dead  world,  and  sanctifying  a  believing  heart,  the  inspired 
word,  preached  by  Christ's  ambassadors ;  read,  and  pon- 
dered, and  prayed  over  by  the  sinner. 

And  now,  in  conclusion,  let  us  remember,  brethren,  that 
the  House  of  the  Lord,  the  household  of  faith,  for  which 
we  have  been  inquiring,  and  of  which  I  have  showed  you 
the  essential  being,  is  the  Church,  not  of  this  Christian 
dispensation  only,  but  of  all  dispensations,  since  there  was 
a  Church  of  God  on  earth;  the  Father's  house  of  many 
mansions,  in  which  the  saints  of  all  ages,  all  forms,  all  di- 
versities of  light  and  privilege,  are  joined  together  at  this 
6 


82  SERMON   III. 

time,  whether  they  be  saints  in  the  imperfectness  of  the 
Church  below,  or  in  the  perfectness  of  the  holiness  above; 
the  House  of  God,  in  which  Enoch  walked  with  him,  and 
Abraham  lived  by  faith,  and  David  praised,  and  Paul  la- 
bored; the  Church,  whose  life  has  always  been  "hid  with 
Christ  in  God" — "the  communion  of  saints — the  Holy 
Catholic  Church"  wherein  is  the  "one  Lord"  the  hope 
and  life,  the  one  living  faith  of  the  heart,  whereby  that  life 
and  hope  are  embraced,  and  the  one  baptism  of  the  Spirit, 
sanctifying  the  heart  and  making  it  meet  for  the  inherit- 
ance of  the  saints  in  light.  Other  "  Holy  Catholic  Church" 
I  know  not  where  to  find.  A  member  of  that  Catholic 
Church  I  rejoice  to  greet  in  any  man,  of  whatever  name, 
in  whom  are  those  spiritual  marks.  If  I  know  him  not 
for  a  brother,  God  knows  him  for  a  son.  If  he  be  sepa- 
rated from  visible  Church  communion,  he  is  not,  and  can 
not  be  separated  from  communion  here  and  forever  with 
all  the  true  Church  of  Christ,  simply  because  he  is  not 
separated  from  Christ. 

To  gather  sinners  into  that  blessed  communion ;  to  build 
them  in  that  faith  and  promote  in  them  more  and  more 
that  baptism,  is  the  single  work  of  our  ministry.  Noth- 
ing is  of  any  value  in  the  Church  but  as  it  bears  on  that. 
To  be  in  that  communion  is  life — out  of  it  is  death.  To 
bring  a  soul  to  that  Church,  is  to  save  it  and  make  proof 
of  our  ministry.  There,  brethren,  may  we  be  found  when 
called  of  God  to  die — counting  all  things  but  loss  for  the 
excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord — 
that  we  may  "win  Christ  and  be  found  in  him."  Amen. 

NOTE. — The  above  discourse  was  preached  in  the  Church  of  the  Epiphany, 
Philadelphia,  A.  D.  1848,  as  the  first  annual  sermon  of  the  Prot.  Ep.  Society 
for  the  Promotion  of  Evangelical  Knowledge.  It  has  been  much  altered  for 
this  volume,  and  it  is  hoped  improved,  but  its  sentiments  in  no  sense  changed- 


SEBMON  IV. 

THE  PERSONAL  MINISTRY  OF  CHRIST  IN  HIS  CHURCH,  NOW  AND  EVER. 


LUKE  iii.   16,  17. 

•'I  indeed  baptize  you  with  -water;  but  one  mightier  than  I  cometh,  the 
latchet  of  whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  unloose  ;  He  shall  baptize  you 
with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire  ;  whose  fan  is  in  his  hand,  and  he  will 
thoroughly  purge  his  floor,  and  will  gather  the  wheat  into  his  garner;  but 
the  chaff  he  will  burn  with  fire  unquenchable."* 

THE  advent  of  our  Lord  had  taken  place  some  thirty 
years  before  these  words  were  spoken  concerning  him  by 
his  distinguished  herald,  John  the  Baptist.  He  had  come 
in  the  flesh,  but  not  in  his  ministry.  But  now  he  was 
about  to  appear  in  the  work  which  the  Father  had  given 
him  to  do.  Meanwhile,  the  Jewish  people,  by  the  study 
of  the  prophecies  concerning  the  coming  of  the  Messiah, 
had  been  generally  impressed  with  the  belief  that  the 
time  was  at  hand;  so  that  in  consequence  of  the  peculiar 
character  and  ministry  of  John,  "all  men  mused  in 
their  hearts  whether  he  were  the  Christ  or  no."  Thus 
was  that  faithful  messenger  led  to  declare,  in  the  words 
of  the  text,  how  infinitely  superior  to  himself  was  He 
whose  coming  they  looked  for,  and  whose  way  he  was 
sent  to  prepare. 

Before  proceeding  to  the  chief  subjects  of  discourse  as 
contained  in  the  text,  we  cannot  but  draw  your  attention 

*  Preached  for  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  in  St.  Saviour's,  Chelsea, 
London,  May  8,  1853. 


84  SERMON   IV. 

to  the  exceeding  strength  of  the  testimony  of  John  to  the 
personal  dignity  and  eminence  of  our  Lord.  "  One  might- 
ier than  I  cometh,  whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  unloose" 
To  take  off,  or  carry,  the  shoes  of  another,  was  in  those 
days  so  menial  an  office  that  only  the  lowest  of  servants 
were  put  to  it.  But  even  that,  John  confessed  he  was  not 
worthy  to  perform  to  our  Lord.  And  yet,  Who  was 
John?  Do  you  say,  a  prophet?  "Yea,  (said  the  Lord) 
and  much  more  than  a  prophet;  and  verily  I  say  unto 
you,  among  them  that  are  born  of  women  there  hath  not 
risen  a  greater  than  John  the  Baptist." 

Many  centuries  before  his  birth,  prophets  of  God  had 
been  inspired  to  foretell  his  coming.  An  angel  from  the 
host  of  heaven  was  despatched  to  announce  to  his  parents 
the  near  approach  of  that  event.  From  his  mother's 
womb,  "he  was  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost."  Other 
prophets  were  distant  foretellers  of  the  coming  of  Christ. 
This  prophet  was  his  immediate  forerunner — going  di- 
rectly before  his  face.  Others  testified  that  Christ  ivould 
come;  John  testified  that  he  ^vas  come;  and  to  him  was 
granted  the  privilege  and  honor  of  being  the  first  to  see 
and  recognize  and  proclaim  Jesus,  in  his  proper  character 
as  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  And  yet  that  greatest  of 
prophets,  most  exalted  of  men,  sanctified  from  the  birth, 
felt  himself  not  worthy  to  unloose  the  latchet  of  the 
shoe  of  Christ.  The  question  comes  then,  Who  and 
ivhat  is  Christ?  Do  you  say,  "a  great  prophet,  mighty 
in  word  and  deed"?  Aye,  but  since  John  was  more  than 
a  prophet,  and  yet  so  unspeakably  his  inferior,  will  you 
say  he  was  a  mere  man;  when  a  man,  than  whom  there 
was  not  a  greater  among  the  sons  of  men,  was  not  worthy 


THE   PERSONAL   MINISTRY    OF    CHRIST.  85 

to  serve  him  in  the  very  humblest  office?  The  words  of 
Christ  in  the  book  of  the  prophet  Malachi,  shall  answer, 
"Behold,  I  will  send  my  messenger,  and  he  shall  prepare 
my  way  before  me."*  Who  is  this,  thus  speaking  as  if 
he  were  Lord  of  all?  speaking  of  sending  his  messenger 
to  prepare  his  way,  some  six  hundred  years  before  the 
time?  Is  it  mere  man;  or  is  it  the  sovereign  and  eternal 
God?  Let  the  prophet  Isaiah  answer  further, — "The 
voice  of  him  that  crieth  in  the  wilderness,  Prepare  ye 
the  way  of  the  Lord,  make  straight  in  the  desert  a  high- 
way for  our  6W."|  John  the  Baptist  was  that  voice 
crying  in  the  wilderness — Christ,  he  whose  way  he  came 
to  prepare; — and  Christ  was  then  our  Lord  and  God. 
Contemplating  him  in  that  infinite  dignity,  we  perfectly 
comprehend  the  unworthiness  of  John  so  much  as  to 
perform  the  lowest  service  at  his  feet.  The  seraphim 
veil  their  faces  in  his  presence.  And  God  forbid  that 
we,  sinners  on  earth,  should  render  him  any  lower  rever- 
ence. Be  it  the  glory  of  every  soul  that  hopes  in  him 
for  acceptance  with  God,  to  place  him  on  the  throne  of 
his  heart,  as  his  God,  as  well  as  .Saviour,  and  to  worship 
him  as  sitting  on  the  throne  of  all  dominion  and  power, 
the  eternal  Jehovah,  "for  whom  and  by  whom  are  all 
things." 

Let  us  proceed  to  the  main  points  of  the  text.  You 
will  observe  the  strong  comparison  between  the  ministry 
of  John  and  that  of  Christ.  "I  indeed  baptize  you  with 
water;  but  one  mightier  than  I  cometh,  the  latchet  of 
whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  unloose ;  he  shall  baptize 
you  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  fire;  whose  fan  is 

»Malachi  iii.  1.  f  Isaiah  xl.  3. 


86  SERMON   IV. 

in  his  hand,  and  he  will  thoroughly  purge  his  floor,  and 
will  gather  the  wheat  into  his  garner;  but  the  chaff  he 
will  burn  with  fire  unquenchable."  We  mark  in  the  first 
place : — 

I.  The  essential  difference  between  the  ministry  of 
Christ,  and  that  of  all  his  ministers  on  earth,  in  point  of 

SPIRITUAL  EFFICACY. 

The  difference  is  expressed  in  the  text  with  reference 
merely  to  the  comparative  baptisms  of  John  and  of  Christ. 
But  it  holds  as  well  in  regard  to  all  parts  of  the  work 
of  the  ministry.  John  baptized  with  water  only.  In 
other  words,  the  outward  sign  of  baptism  was  all  that 
John  co  aid  give.  The  inward  and  spiritual  grace  of  bap- 
tism, which  is  the  real  baptism,  was  not  at  his  disposal. 
He,  who  was  mightier  than  John,  and  whose  coming  in 
the  power  of  his  ministry  was  then  at  hand, — HE  would 
baptize  "with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire" 

We  understand  the  addition  of  the  words  "tvith  fire" 
to  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  a  figurative  expres- 
sion of  the  searching,  refining,  illuminating,  warming  in- 
fluences of  the  Lord's  Spirit  upon  the  dark,  and  dead,  and 
cold  heart  of  unregenerate  man.  The  whole  declaration 
was  intended  to  foretell  the  mighty  power  that  would 
attend  on  the  ministry  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  for  the 
sanctification  of  the  hearts  of  sinful  men;  how,  as  water 
cleanses,  and  as  fire  refines  and  kindles,  so  his  Spirit  would 
search  out  and  consume  away  the  corruptions  of  our  sinful 
nature,  enlightening  believers  with  heavenly  wisdom, 
shedding  abroad  in  their  hearts  the  love  of  God,  till  finally 
they  are  restored  to  his  perfect  image  and  likeness  in  a 
spotless  holiness. 


THE   PEKSONAL   MINISTRY    OF   CHRIST.  87 

We  have  no  idea  that  John,  in  using  these  words,  had 
any  direct  reference  to  the  Christian  sacrament  of  bap- 
tism. It  is  written  that  our  Lord  "baptized  not"*  that 
is,  he  did  not  baptize  in  the  visible  form  of  water.  But 
yet  in  the  highest,  and  fullest,  and  only  real  sense  in  which 
baptism  can  be  given,  he  did  baptize;  because  he  poured 
out  upon  his  disciples  that  Spirit  of  holiness,  which  is  the 
only  true  baptism.  In  this  sense,  none  but  he  ever  did 
or  could  baptize.  In  this  sense  he  has  been  ministering 
to  his  Church  and  baptizing,  ever  since  the  Gospel  began 
its  course;  every  soul  of  man  that  was  ever  transformed 
by  the  renewing  of  his  mind,  into  the  love  and  holiness 
of  God,  having  been  indebted  for  all  to  the  direct  work  of 
Christ  himself,  as  the  ever-present  minister  of  his  grace, 
baptizing  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  this  view  there  is 
really  no  ministry  of  baptism  in  the  Church,  except  the 
unseen,  but  ever-living  and  all-powerful  ministry  of  Christ, 
searching,  changing,  sanctifying  the  hearts  of  sinners. 
The  declaration  of  John  is  as  if  he  had  said — he  that 
cometh  after  me  is  mightier  than  I.  He  shall  sanctify 
with  the  Holy  Ghost,  internally,  really,  effectually.  I 
baptize  with  water.  I  can  give  but  the  form  and  sign  of 
sanctification.  He  will  make  you  holy  in  spirit  and  in 
truth,  giving  you  the  power  and  life  of  a  new  birth  unto 
righteousness. 

Thus  you  perceive  that  the  baptism  given  by  our  Lord 
is  identical  with  the  commencement,  and  progress,  and 
final  completion  of  our  sanctification  by  his  Spirit.  It  is 
the  abiding  and  progressive  renewing  of  our  minds  after 
the  mind  of  Christ.  The  baptism  in  the  form  of  the  sac- 

*John  iv.  2. 


88  SERMON   IV. 

rament  is  once  only — that  by  the  power  of  the  Spirit  is 
progressive  in  the  Christian  life,  and  is  co-extensive  there- 
with; just  as  communion  in  the  form  of  the  sacrament  is 
occasional  only,  while  the  spiritual  communion  with  Christ 
continues  as  long  as  faith  lives  in  the  heart.  The 
baptism  of  the  Spirit  begins  in  the  spiritual  regeneration 
of  the  sinner,  whether  that  great  inward  change  takes 
place  at  the  time  of  the  sacramental  washing,  or  before, 
or  after.  It  continues  and  becomes  more  perfect;  as  the 
Christian,  under  the  cleansing  of  the  Spirit,  becomes  more 
holy.  Every  increase  of  inward  sanctification  is  the  pro- 
gress, step  by  step,  of  this  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
As  the  inward  washing  becomes  more  perfect,  the  real 
baptism  becomes  more  complete.  The  Christian,  improv- 
ing his  privileges,  is  always  under  that  direct  ministry  of 
Christ,  who  thus  sits  "as  a  refiner  and  purifier  of  silver," 
and  who  will  continue  that  work,  till  he  shall  have  search- 
ed out  and  consumed  away  in  the  believer  the  last  impu- 
rity of  our  nature;  till  our  whole  inner  man  shall  become 
the  new  man,  perfectly  conformed  to  our  Lord's  own  like- 
ness, and  meet  for  his  kingdom. 

But  the  words  of  John,  comparing  his  baptism  with  that 
of  his  Lord,  we  all  must  alike  use  who  are  commissioned 
to  officiate  in  the  ministry  of  Christ  on  earth.  To  be 
able  to  baptize  only  with  water,  was  not  a  peculiarity  of 
the  Baptist.  No  minister  of  the  gospel  can  do  any  more. 
It  is  not  given  to  us  to  communicate  in  baptism  the  spirit- 
ual, sanctifying  grace.  We  officiate  only  in  the  sign  of 
the  Spirit,  and  except  the  receiver  of  the  sign  have  the 
preparation  of  a  living  faith  to  seek  the  reality  of  him 
who  only  can  give  it,  it  will  be  to  him  but  a  sign.  The 


THE  PERSONAL  MINISTRY   OF   CHRIST. 

spiritual  grace,  or  the  new  birth  unto  righteousness,  is 
not  tied  to  our  hands;  depends  not  on  our  agency;  flows 
not  through  our  act;  dwells  not  in  any  store-house  in  the 
Church  on  earth;  never  reaches  any  heart  but  directly  by 
the  unseen,  personal  ministry  of  Jesus,  reaching  to  each 
seeking  soul  as  really  now  as  when  of  old  he  healed  the 
leper,  or  raised  the  dead.  Thus  we  point  every  one  that 
desires  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost  far  above  our  min- 
istry; far  above  all  visible  ordinances  in  our  gift,  however 
divinely  appointed  and  needful  in  their  place,  to  him  who 
is  "able  to  save  to  the  uttermost;"  saying  with  John  the 
Baptist,  "Behold  the  Lamb  of  God!" 

It  does  not  militate  against  all  this  to  say,  that  between 
our  ministry  and  that  of  John,  there  is  this  great  differ- 
ence, that  the  baptism  he  gave  was  not,  as  ours  is,  a  sac- 
rament, and   that  the    Holy  Ghost  had  not  then  been 
given,  as  after  the  ascension  of  Christ  he  was  given  to 
the  Church.     For,  you  will  note,  that  we  are  not  teaching 
that  greater  power  of  the  Spirit  does  not  attend  the  right 
reception  of  Gospel  ordinances  in  repentance  and  faith, 
than  attended  the  baptism  of  John;  but  that  whatever 
the  grace  received  therein  by  the  repenting  and  believing 
heart,  it  is  not  the  ministry  of  man,  nor  the  ordinance 
given  by  the  human  minister,  that  confers  it.     Sacraments 
are  means  of  grace,  made  fruitful  on  certain  conditions 
only;  but  they  are  not  grace;  they  contain  not  grace; 
they  give  not  grace.     The  efficacy  of  grace  resides  not 
in  them,  is  not  confined  to  them.     "Not  by  might  nor 
by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord."     It  is  "God 
that  worketh  in  us  to  will  and  to  do,"  as  directly  as  when 
he  made  the  world.     It  is  the  Spirit  of  God  moving  on 


90  SERMON   IV. 

our  hearts  as  personally  and  directly  as  when  he  moved 
on  the  face  of  the  primitive  chaos,  that  gives  the  newness 
of  life.  It  is  the  Lord  and  Giver  of  life  shining  into  our 
hearts,  as  truly  and  immediately  as  when  in  the  begin- 
ning" of  the  world,  he  said  "Let  there  be  light." 

This  declaration  we  confine  not  to  baptism,  or  to  sacra- 
mental ordinances.  We  extend  it  to  every  part  of  our 
ministry.  It  takes  in  the  whole  preaching  of  the  word. 
What  if  it  be  a  Paul  that  preaches,  or  an  Apollos,  or  Ce- 
phas ;  no  matter  what  the  winning  simplicity,  or  the  mov- 
ing eloquence  with  which  the  pure  truth  is  declared  and 
urged  upon  your  hearts.  As  to  all  spiritual  power,  it  goes 
not  of  itself  beyond  the  outward  sign,  which  is  the  spoken 
word.  It  remains  in  the  memory  or  in  the  understand- 
ing of  the  hearer,  as  powerless  of  itself  for  spiritual  life, 
as  the  mere  water  upon  the  brow  of  the  baptized.  A 
great  gulf  is  fixed  between  the  furthest  point  which  our 
preaching  can  reach,  and  the  conversion  of  a  sinner  to 
God.  We  may  teach  the  understanding  and  convince  it. 
We  may  move  the  sensibilities  and  disturb  them  in  their 
depths.  We  may  alarm  the  wicked  with  the  solemn  and 
searching  exhibition  of  the  truth,  and,  like  a  smitten 
Felix,  he  may  tremble  at  the  prospect  of  a  judgment  to 
come.  But  conviction  of  the  intellect  is  not  conversion; 
the  gushing  of  tears,  the  quaking  of  conscience,  is  not 
conversion.  The  great  work  remains.  Repentance,  a 
new  heart,  is  not  ours  to  give,  nor  ours  so  much  as  to 
begin.  Let  us  realize  that  whenever  a  sinner  is  turned 
unto  God,  with  a  new  heart,  and  a  genuine  repentance, 
whatever  the  instrument  employed,  and  however  entirely 
out  of  our  sight  the  process  within,  the  work  is  as  directly 


THE   PERSONAL   MINISTRY    OF    CHRIST.  91 

and  exclusively  of  the  omnipotence  of  God  as  if  he 
should  create  a  world.  Man  never  converted  man  to 
God. 

John  the  Baptist  was  "a  voice  crying  in  the  wilderness, 
Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord."  He  was  only  a  voice. 
He  spoke  the  truth  and  urged  it ;  nothing  more.  If  any 
repented,  and  so  in  his  heart  was  prepared  the  way  of  the 
Lord,  it  was  the  Lord  that  prepared  that  way.  That  voice 
was  the  appointed  instrument,  like  the  trumpets  around 
the  walls  of  Jericho ;  but  the  power  was  His  only  who  sent 
the  voice.  Nothing  more  than  such  instruments,  are  the 
ministers  of  the  Gospel.  There  is  a  second  coming  of 
Christ  for  which  it  is  our  office  to  make  ready  the  way, 
"by  turning  the  hearts  of  the  disobedient  unto  the 
wisdom  of  the  just."  For  this  purpose  we  cry  aloud  in 
this  world's  wilderness  of  sin,  and  emptiness,  and  misery. 
We  sound  the  call  to  repentance;  we  publish  the  invita- 
tions of  the  Gospel;  we  lay  siege  to  the  conscience  with 
the  battery  of  truth ;  we  try  to  gain  over  the  hearts  of 
men  to  God.  We  know  it  is  the  Lord's  appointed 
means.  Without  it,  his  way  will  no  more  be  prepared, 
than  it  can  be  by  it.  But  we  are  only  a  voice.  Left  to 
ourselves,  none  mightier  to  look  to  and  depend  on,  none 
to  speak  to  the  rebellious  and  disobedient,  the  wordly, 
and  the  proud,  and  the  dead  in  sin  "as  never  man 
spake," —  our  ministry  would  be  as  fruitless  as  the  voice 
on  the  wind  that  dies  away. 

But  we  are  not  left  to  ourselves.  The  whole  work  of 
the  ministry  is  not  committed  to  such  earthen  vessels, 
The  treasure  of  Gospel  truth  is  in  such  feeble  hands  as 
ours,  that  all  may  see  that  the  excellency  of  the  power  is 
of  God  and  not  of  us.  We  do  the  under-work.  There  is 


92  SERMON   IV. 

a  teacher  and  minister  of  whom  it  is  written  that  he  hath 
"  the  tongue  of  the  learned  to  speak  a  word  in  season  to 
him  that  is  weary/'  and^concerning  whom  it  was  testified 
of  old,  that  he  spake  "  as  one  having  authority,  and  not 
as  the  scribes."  His  word  commanded  the  sea  and  it  obey- 
ed ;  he  bade  the  dead  arise,  and  they  stood  up ;  and  he  is 
now,  and  always,  the  great  officiating  minister  of  his 
Church — "having  authority"  over  the  consciences  and 
hearts  of  men,  and  not  suffering  his  word  to  return  unto 
him  void.  We  plant  the  seed  and  water  it :  He  gives  the 
life,  and  growth,  and  fruit.  We  call  upon  sinners  to  work 
out  their  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling:  He  works  in 
them  to  will  and  to  do  according  to  his  good  pleasure; 
we  the  instruments  merely, —  Christ  all  the  power  and 
his  all  the  glory. 

This  vast  difference,  between  the  visible  minister  in  the 
sanctuary  here,  and  the  invisible  minister  in  the  sanctuary 
on  high,  the  Church  of  Corinth,  even  in  the  days  of  St. 
Paul,  had  in  a  great  degree  forgotten;  so  prone  is  man  to 
glory  in  man,  and  so  early  began  in  the  Church  that  great 
sin,  which  afterwards  grew  to  such  enormity,  and  now 
reigns  so  widely  and  ruinously  in  a  large  part  of  nominal 
Christendom, —  the  virtual  substitution  of  the  ministering 
of  man  for  that  of  the  Lord  of  all ;  so  that  the  people, 
instead  of  looking  unto  Jesus,  look  to  the  so-called  priest, 
and  put  their  trust  in  him,  and  in  the  sacraments  of  God's 
appointing,  or  of  man's  making,  which  he  gives  them. 
And  Paul  taught  us  how  to  rebuke  that  sin.  Hear  his 
indignant  words:  "Who  is  Paul,  and  who  is  A  polios,  but 
ministers  by  whom  ye  believed,  even  as  the  Lord  gave  to 
every  man  ?  I  have  planted,  Apollos  watered,  but  God 


THE  PERSONAL   MINISTRY    OF   CHRIST,  93 

gave  the  increase.     So  then,  neither  is  he  that  planteth 
any  thing,  nor  he  that  watereth,  but  God  that  giveth  the 


increase."* 


Not  only  is  this  view  of  great  importance  to  minister 
and  people,  to  keep  their  dependence  where  it  ought  to 
be,  but  it  is  of  great  consolation  to  both. 

What  should  we  do  to  sustain  our  hearts  in  so  great  a 
work  as  that  committed  to  us,  having  nothing  stronger 
than  the  simple  word  as  our  means  of  producing  in  the 
hearts  of  men  the  obedience  of  Christ;  feeling  that  "nei- 
ther is  he  that  planteth  any  thing,  nor  he  that  watereth," 
what  should  we  do,  were  it  not  for  the  assurance  that 
"  God  giveth  the  increase"  ? — that  we  are  not  alone  in  the 
work— that  there  is  a  minister  to  give  the  growth  and 
fruit,  as  well  as  we  feeble  ones  to  plant  the  seed;  that 
not  only  must  HE  give  it,  if  it  be  given  at  all,  but  he  doth 
give  it;  that  all  the  conversions  and  all  the  growth  of 
grace  in  any  heart,  since  the  Gospel  was  preached,  are  the 
abundant  evidence  that  to  the  faithful  planting  and  water- 
ing of  his  word,  he  will  give  increase.  That  seed  may 
have  its  winter,  when  it  will  seem  only  to  wither  and  die, 
and  we  may  need  "long  patience"  to  wait  for  it,  and  the 
fruit  may  never  come  for  us  to  see  in  this  life;  for  what 
are  we  in  the  matter;  but  it  will  be  given,  and  be  gath- 
ered into  the  Lord's  garner,  to  the  praise  of  the  riches  of 
his  grace. 

And  let  all  that  hear  the  word  of  his  grace  take  comfort 
likewise.  The  same  words  that  forbid  all  trust  in  man, 
encourage  all  faith  in  Christ.  When  you  realize  how 
great  is  the  work  to  be  wrought  in  your  hearts  to  make 

*  1  Cor.  iii.  5—7. 


94  SERMON   IV. 

you  superior  to  the  world  and  meet  for  God's  kingdom, 
where  would  be  your  hope,  had  you  no  ministry  to  look 
to  for  help,  but  that  of  men  of  like  passions  and  infirmities 
with  yourselves?  But  when  you  learn  to  look  on  all  our 
work  as  only  the  voice  of  the  word,  directing  you  above 
and  away  from  ourselves,  and  from  all  trust  in  the  crea- 
ture and  in  ordinances,  to  Christ,  the  great  power  of  God, 
who  is  "made  unto  us  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and 
sanctification,  and  redemption ;"  when  in  the  very  weak- 
ness of  the  ministry  that  can  only  baptize  with  water, 
you  learn  to  look,  while  you  wait  on  that  ministry,  the 
more  to  him  who  doth  and  will  baptize  every  seeking 
soul  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  who  will  continue  that  bap- 
tism until  he  hath  perfectly  cleansed  you  from  all  unright- 
eousness and  set  you  at  his  own  right  hand;  then  will 
your  hope  abound  and  your  hearts  rejoice,  and  you  will 
glory  in  the  preciousness  of  Christ,  your  strength  and 
your  Redeemer. 

But  there  is  a  part  of  our  text  to  which  I  have  not  yet 
directed  your  attention. 

John  testified  further  concerning  Christ,  in  these  words 
— "whose  fan  is  in  his  hand,  and  he  ^vitt  thoroughly  purge 
his  floor,  and  gather  the  wheat  into  his  garner,  but  the  chaff 
he  willlurn  with  fire  unquenchable." 

II.  This  leads  us  to  speak,  in  the  second  place,  of  the 
essential  difference  between  the  work  of  Christ,  as  the 
minister  of  his  Church,  and  all  our  ministry,  in  point  of 

DISCIPLINARY    POWER. 

A  part  of  our  office  is  the  exercise  of  government  and 
discipline  in  the  visible  Church.  Besides  the  work  of  re- 
proving, and  exhorting,  and  instructing,  by  the  word,  for 


THE   PERSONAL  MINISTRY    OF   CHRIST.  95 

the  increase  in  grace  of  all  the  members  of  the  Church, 
it  is  part  of  our  office  to  separate  from  its  communion,  as 
far  as  it  can  be  safely  done,  by  ministers  who  cannot 
search  the  heart, — all  such  as  are  unworthy  to  continue 
therein. 

But  when  we  say  that  such  discipline  is  to  be  exercised 
by  ministers  tvho  cannot  search  the  heart,  you  see  at  once 
how  contracted  is  the  field  of  their  work  in  this  respect, 
and  how  limited  the  power  of  their  office.  Innumerable 
are  the  avenues  and  the  disguises  by  which  the  self-de- 
ceived and  the  deceiver  may  elude  the  vigilance  of  such 
watchmen,  and  not  only  enter,  but  remain  in,  the  com 
munion  of  the  visible  Church,  to  its  exceeding  injury  and 
dishonor.  Hence  it  is  that  while  the  true,  the  invisible 
Church,  as  God's  own  "household  of  faith,"  unto  which 
his  promises  are  exclusively  made,  cannot  have  in  it  any 
but  his  true  people;  because  a  living  union  by  faith  to 
Christ  is  the  very  essence  of  membership  in  that  Church, 
and  because  he  who  does  search  the  heart,  and  cannot  be 
deceived,  keeps  the  door;  the  visible  or  professing  Church, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  Church  as  it  is  seen  of  men,  under 
the  boundaries  and  marks  of  outward  ordinances,  is  rep- 
resented in  the  scriptures,  just  as  all  must  see  it  to  be, 
exceedingly  mixed — the  genuine  people  of  God  united 
every  where,  under  the  same  sacraments,  with  those  who 
are  only  nominally  his  people.  It  is  the  true  Vine  with 
its  many  branches ;  some  united  to  it  by  a  junction  of 
life;  others  only  by  the  bonds  of  outward  ordinance;  some 
living  and  fruitful,  others  dead.*  It  is  the  great  draw-net 
cast  in  to  the  sea,  gathering  of  every  kind,  the  good  and 

*  John  xv.  1,  2. 


96  SERMON   IV. 

the  bad,  and  keeping  the  mixed  multitude  within  its 
meshes,  until  it  is  brought  to  shore,  and  they  "gather  the 
good  into  vessels,  and  cast  the  bad  away."*  It  is  the 
great  harvest-field,  in  which  the  tares  have  grown  up  with 
the  wheat,  all  surrounded  by  the  same  enclosure,  all  seem- 
ing to  the  distant  eye  to  belong  to  the  same  sowing,  but 
really  of  entirely  distinct  natures,  and  coming  from  entire- 
ly different  seed,  from  seed  sown  by  different  hands,  and 
for  opposite  ends.  It  is  that  field  permitted  to  go  on  thus 
confused  and  defiled,  because  the  servants  of  the  hus- 
bandman cannot  be  trusted  with  the  separation;  "lest 
while  they  gather  up  the  tares,"  unable  to  distinguish  with 
accuracy,  "they  root  up  also  the  wheat  with  them."f 

We  do  not  mean  that  the  visible  Church  is  not  a  great 
deal  more  mixed  and  defiled  with  the  unholy  and  the 
spiritually  dead,  than  it  would  have  been,  had  there  been 
every  where  and  always  a  more  faithful  ministry  of  the 
word  and  of  such  discipline  as  is  committed  to  man. 
But  we  mean  that  under  the  best  ministry  of  which  hu- 
man wisdom  and  faithfulness  are  capable,  the  state  of  the 
visible  Church,  under  the  power  of  Satan  and  our  deceit- 
ful hearts,  would  have  perfectly  fulfilled  those  inspired 
representations  of  its  mixed  and  lamentable  aspect.  It 
is  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  because  its  true  members 
are  holy — as  the  true  wheat  is  good,  no  matter  what  it 
be  mixed  with ;  and  because  the  unholy  are  not  its  mem- 
bers, however  seeming  to  be,  as  the  tares  are  not  of  the 
harvest,  though  enclosed  within  its  landmarks. 

But  is  there  no  remedy  for  this  sad  confusion?  Be- 
cause our  ministry  cannot  make  the  separation,  is  there 

*  Matt.  xiii.  47.  t  Matt.  xiii. 


THE   PERSONAL   MINISTRY    OF   CHRIST.  97 

none  that  will?  Is  the  Lord's  hand  shortened  that  he 
cannot  purify  his  Church  ?  As  Lord  of  the  Temple,  will 
he  not  drive  out  all  that  profane  it,  as  of  old  he  cleansed 
his  Father's  house  in  Jerusalem?  As  the  Bridegroom 
who  hath  espoused  the  Church  as  his  Bride,  is  there  not  a 
day  coming  when  he  will  present  it  unto  himself,  a  pure 
virgin,  without  spot  and  blameless?  Whatman  cannot  do, 
because  he  hath  power  neither  to  discern  between  the 
true  and  the  false,  nor  to  separate  them  to  their  own 
places,  he  who  hath  all  power  in  heaven  and  earth  will 
do  in  the  last  day.  He  "  will  send  forth  his  angels  to 
gather  out  of  his  kingdom  all  things  that  offend,.and  them 
which  do  iniquity,  and  he  will  cast  them  into  a  furnace  of 
fire;  where  shall  be  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth." 
"Then  shall  ye  discern  between  the  righteous  and  the 
wicked,  between  him  that  serve ih  God,  and  him  that 
serveth  him  not."  "Then  shall  the  righteous," — the 
Church  universal,  in  its  true  being  and  character,  as  a 
living,  holy,  peculiar  people,  without  spot  and  without 
mixture,  "shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of  their 
Father," — as  the  sun  when  all  the  vapors  that  had  con- 
cealed its  light  have  been  driven  away  by  some  rushing 
wind.  W 

In  that  day,  will  all  the  present  ministry  of  man  be 
ended,  as  that  of  John  the  Baptist  ceased  when  the  Lord 
had  come.  "He  must  increase,  but  we  must  decrease. 
He  that  cometh  from  heaven  is  above  all."  Heralds'  work 
is  done  when  the  King  appears.  "The  Lord  is  in  his 
holy  Temple."  We  that  were  sent  before  him  "to  make 
ready  his  way,"  are  wanted  no  more,  as  ministers  of  his 
word.  We  come  down,  therefore,  from  our  pulpits,  to  give 
7 


98  SERMON   IV. 

account  of  our  stewardship.  We  must  take  our  places  in 
the  great  congregation,  with  all  the  quick  and  the  dead, 
when  the  trump  of  the  archangel  hath  called  to  judg- 
ment, having  no  distinction  from  our  office  as  ministers 
of  the  Gospel  but  the  greater  responsibility,  and  like  all 
the  rest  of  men,  to  be  driven  away  as  stubble,  if  not  in 
Christ,  "But  who  may  abide  the  day  of  his  coming,  and 
who  shall  stand  when  he  appeareth  ?"  Then  shall  the  whole 
multitude  of  the  professed  servants  of  God,  all  marked 
alike  by  outward  enclosure  of  ordinances — the  Church 
of  sacramental  signs,  in  which  the  Church  of  spiritual 
grace  appears  as  the  wheat  of  the  harvest,  while  yet  mix- 
ed with  the  chaff  on  the  threshing  floor, — then  shall  they 
be  separated  one  from  another.  The  time  of  the  winnow- 
ing comes.  The  Lord  is  now  ready  and  furnished  for  that 
work.  His  "fan  is  in  his  hand"  Ah1  is  ready,  waiting 
only  the  fullness  of  time.  The  delay  will  not  be  long. 
"He  ivill  thoroughly  purge  his  floor"  How  awful  that  dis- 
crimination, as  one  shall  be  taken  of  the  baptized  and  an- 
other left — one  taken  of  two  that  $like  called  themselves 
Christians,  and  were  of  the  same  visible  communion,  and 
the  other  left.  How  differently  the  line  of  separation  will 
be  made  from  any  anticipation  we  now  can  make.^t  How 
it  will  cross  all  the  bounds  of  what  we  call  denominations, 
and  overlook  all  the  distinctions^  visible  Churches,  and 
place  on  the  right  many  that  feared  they  were  not  of  the 
Lord's  people,  and  on  the  left  many  more  that  feared  not 
but  were  confident  they  were  his !  Ah,  what  self-delu- 
sions, what  dreams  of  self-righteousness,  what  presump- 
tions of  dead  and  fruitless  faith,  what  hopes  carelessly 
encouraged,  never  examined,  will  then  flee  away!  what 


THE   PERSONAL  MINISTRY    OF   CHRIST.  99 

terrible  disappointments  will  take  their  place  !  We  are 
already  warned  by  the  Lord,  that  "many  shall  seek  to  enter 
and  shall  not  be  able."  That  day  will  show  those  many,  as 
it  will  also  show  "a  multitude  that  no  man  can  number," 
that  "have  washed  their  robes  and  made  them  white  in 
the  blood  of  the  Lamb/'  and  who  are  "therefore  before 
the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb."  Then  shall  be  heard 
that  cry  of  disappointed  expectation,  "Lord,  Lord,  open 
unto  us!"  and  that  answer  from  him  that  sitteth  on  the 
throne,  "I  know  you  not;"  and  then  the  plea  of  beginning 
anguish,  "Have  we  not  eaten  and  drunk  in  thy  presence?" 
Were  we  not  communicants  at  thy  table  ?  Did  we  not 
come  to  thy  solemn  feasts  ?  Were  we  not  called  by  thy 
name  and  numbered  with  thy  Church  ?  —  And  then  the 
final  answer,  the  seal  of  exclusion  and  condemnation  for- 
ever, "  I  never  knew  you — depart  from  me."  Ye  were 
never  mine.  Ye  were  among  my  people,  but  never  of 
them.  Ye  took  my  name  :  ye  never  received  my  Spirit. 
Most  perfect  will  be  the  purification  of  the  Temple  in 
that  day ;  not  only  as  it  embraces  the  whole  Church,  so 
that  none  shall  be  left  in  its  visible  fellowship  but  God's 
true  people ;  but  the  temple  in  the  heart  of  each  true 
child  of  God — "the  habitation  of  God  through  the  Spirit." 
In  that  work  the  Lord  "  will  sit  as  a  refiner  and  purifier  of 
silver,  and  he  shall  purify  the  sons  of  Levi,  (his  own  royal 
priesthood  of  all  believers,)  and  purge  them  as  gold  and 
silver,  that  they  may  offer  unto  the  Lord  an  offering  in 
righteousness" — a  pure  offering,  without  spot  or  blemish, 
forever  and  ever.  All  their  dross  will  be  purged  away. 
Every  remnant  of  a  corrupt  nature  will  be  consumed. 
The  image  of  God  in  them  will  appear  as  untarnished,  and 


100  SERMON   IV. 

bright,  and  complete,  as  if  sin  had  never  defaced  it.  "  They 
shall  be  mine,  saith  the  Lord,  in  that  day  when  I  make  up 
my  jewels." 

We  return  to  the  language  of  John  the  Baptist,  descri- 
bing the  doings  of  that  day  of  separation,  of  excommuni- 
cation, and  of  ingathering:  "  He  shall  gather  the  wheat  into 
his  garner"  All  will  be  joyfully  harvested  home ;  not  a 
grain  left  behind ;  not  a  grain  but  shall  be  regarded  as 
worth  being  laid  up  in  the  garner;  all  his  true  people 
perfectly  known,  each  called  by  name,  each  recorded 
in  the  book  of  life,  each  treasured  up  and  put  away  as 
crown  jewels  of  his  kingdom,  for  which  a  price  far  more 
precious  than  of  gold  that  perisheth,  has  been  paid  by 
the  Great  King. 

For  that  great  ingathering,  the  Lord  hath  gone  to  pre- 
pare the  many  mansions  in  the  Father's  house.  It  will 
require  the  "  many"  for  it  will  be  a  great  harvest. 

"  But  the  chaff  he  will  burn  with  fire  unquenchable." 
"Behold,  the  day  cometh  that  shall  burn  as  an  oven." 
But  let  it  be  well  observed  here  that  the  whole  reference 
of  John  the  Baptist,  in  the  figure  of  the  wheat  and  the 
chaff,  and  of  our  Lord,  in  the  corresponding  figure  of  the 
wheat  and  the  tares,  is  to  the  visible  Church ;  not  to  the 
whole  race  of  man,  including  the  Church,  but  to  the 
Church,  exclusive  of  all  the  rest  of  mankind.  The  judg- 
ment, indeed,  will  embrace  all  the  quick  and  dead  ;  but 
here  its  application  to  the  visible  Church  alone  is  in  view. 
It  is  a  solemn  thought  indeed,  that  some  of  the  most  im- 
pressive accounts  of  the  searchings  of  the  judgment,  and 
the  separations  it  will  make,  and  the  condemnations  that 
will  ensue,  are  accounts  of  the  Lord's  sitting  in  judgment 


THE   PERSONAL   MINISTRY    OF    CHRIST.  101 

on  his  visible  Church,  on  his  professing  people,  those  to 
whom  his  ministers  have  given  the  baptism  of  water  in  his 
name,  and  who  have  belonged  to  the  visible  communion 
of  his  children.  The  chaff  and  the  grain  on  the  threshing 
floor,  the  tares  and  the  wheat  in  the  harvest  field,  like 
the  wise  and  the  foolish  virgins  when  the  bridegroom  com- 
eth,  are  the  whole  baptized  Church,  the  whole  company 
of  professing  Christians.  But  the  chaff  was  never  the 
grain,  however  intimately  associated  with  it.  Tares  never 
were  wheat,  however  near  to  it  they  grew ;  however  like 
it  they  may  have  seemed ;  however  enclosed  with  it  in  the 
same  hedge.  Visibly,  they  belong  to  the  same  harvest, 
because  in  the  same  field.  Really,  they  are  wholly  unlike 
in  nature.  They  came  from  different  seed.  The  servants 
of  the  husbandman  sowed  the  one;  an  enemy  the  other. 
What  a  testimony  is  here  to  what  the  Lord  will  find  in  his 
visible  Church  when  he  cometh — not  only  Christians  of 
various  degrees  of  holiness  and  growth,  but  Christians 
and  those  that  never  were  Christians  but  in  name  and 
form;  all  baptized  of  water,  but  not  all  born  again  of  the 
Holy  Ghost;  the  old  nature  in  many  remaining  unchanged 
and  as  essentially  different  from  that  of  God's  people,  as 
weeds  from  wheat ;  as  chaff  that  is  fit  only  to  be  burned, 
from  the  good  grain  that  is  precious  for  the  garner. 

Brethren,  where  shall  we  be  found  in  that  day?  How 
infinitely  important  is  an  honest  judgment  of  ourselves 
now  by  the  light  of  the  word,  lest  we  then  be  judged  of 
the  Lord  to  our  everlasting  confusion !  Without  that, 
how  easily  may  we  call  ourselves  Christians,  go  to  the 
Christian  communion,  and  go  to  the  grave  expecting  the 
Christian's  inheritance,  and  then,  when  the  seal  is  set  to 


102  SERMON   IV. 

our  portion,  find  out  to  our  unspeakable  dismay,  that  the 
Lord  never  knew  us  as  his  people.  There  is  no  danger 
of  such  delusion  where  there  is  the  fear  of  it,  and  the  dil- 
igent and  prayerful  effort  by  the  grace  of  God  to  escape  it. 
But  oh  !  that  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  without  which 
none  can  see  the  Lord ;  that  indwelling  spirit  of  life,  and 
love,  and  holiness;  that  daily  growth  toward  the  perfect 
mind  of  Christ ;  let  us  most  earnestly  seek  it  as  our  mis- 
sion every  day,  our  work  for  all  of  life,  as  much  our  con- 
stant calling  in  this  world,  as  it  is  the  work  of  the  morning 
light  to  increase  hour  by  hour  unto  the  perfect  day.  Our 
earnest  aspiring  of  the  heart  to  be  holy,  will  be  the  best 
evidence  that  we  are  holy.  Oar  earnest  seeking  for  a 
more  complete  baptism  of  the  Spirit,  will  be  the  witness 
of  the  Spirit  to  a  true  baptism  already  attained,  and  the 
pledge  of  more.  That  growing  in  grace,  towards  the  per- 
fect day  of  grace,  will  be  your  evidence  that  the  day  has 
begun,  that  ye  are  children  of  light,  and  will  be  partakers 
of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light.  Lord  Jesus,  send 
thy  Spirit!  Blessed  Spirit  of  Christ,  come  down  upon 
our  hearts !  More  and  more,  day  by  day,  baptize  us,  wash 
us,  make  us  more  holy,  till  the  work  of  grace  be  finished 
in  everlasting  glory !  Amen. 


SERMON  Y. 

THE  PRESENCE  OF  CHRIST  IN  THE  ASSEMBLIES  OF  HIS  PEOPLE. 


MATTHEW  xviii.  20. 

"Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the 
midst  of  them." 

THE  presence  of  the  Great  and  Good  Shepherd  wherever 
his  people,  however  scattered,  may  be — how  comforting 
the  assurance  of  it !  In  the  valley  and  shadow  of  death 
to  be  able  to  say  "thou  art  with  me"  lights  up  the  whole 
way  and  takes  from  the  dying  believer,  all  his  fear. 
When  the  twelve  Apostles  had  received  their  commission 
to  carry  the  message  of  the  Gospel  to  all  people,  and  to 
assault,  with  the  single  weapon  of  the  truth,  the  strong 
holds  of  Satan,  in  all  the  world  5  and  when  they  looked 
at  their  utter  impotence  for  such  a  work — twelve  despised, 
persecuted,  unlearned  Jews,  servants  of  a  crucified  master, 
to  attack  the  entrenched  philosophies,  and  superstitions, 
and  ungodliness  of  all  mankind,  and  that  in  direct  con- 
flict with  all  the  power  of  rulers,  all  the  resistance  of 
priesthood,  all  the  learning  of  the  schools — oh!  what  a 
comfort  it  must  have  been  to  hear,  immediately  in  con- 
nection with  their  commission,  those  assuring  words  of 
their  Omnipotent  Master,  "Zo,  /  am  with  you  alivays" 
Now,  precisely  what  that  precious  promise  was  to  the 
twelve  Apostles,  and  has  been  to  all  the  generations  of 


104  SERMON   V. 

the  Christian  ministry,  the  promise  in  the  text  was  given 
to  be  to  the  whole  membership  of  Christ's  true  Church, 
to  every  gathering  together  of  his  people,  in  his  name,  to 
the  end  of  the  world.  Let  us  study  a  promise  so  express 
and  so  dear. 

The  text  contains  these  two  prominent  heads  of  dis- 
course :  A  promise,  and  a  certain  assemblage  of  persons  to 
whom  that  promise  is  made,  We  will  first  consider  the 
peculiar  description  given  of  that  assemblage,  and  then 
the  contents  of  that  promise. 

1,  What  is  the  peculiarity  of  the  assemblage  ?  "Where 
two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name."  Such 
is  its  brief  description.  The  peculiarity  is  found  in  these 
words,  "  in  my  name"  the  name  of  Christ.  What,  then, 
are  we  to  understand  by  this  essential  condition  of  the 
promise  ? 

The  original  word  here  translated,  in,  may  more  properly 
be  rendered,  unto,  making  the  passage  read  "gathered 
together  unto  my  name."  The  same  original  expression 
occurs  in  the  appointed  form  of  baptism,  where  "baptizing 
them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,"  &c.,  should  be  read, 
"^baptizing  them  unto,  or  into,  the  name,"  &c.  Whether 
we  read  the  text  one  way  or  the  other,  makes  no  difference 
in  the  doctrinal  teaching  contained  therein,  for  both  read- 
ings come  to  the  same  thing  in  substance.  But  I  think 
we  get  at  the  fullness  of  the  meaning  of  our  Lord,  and 
are  enabled  to  read  the  text  in  its  proper  relative  bearing 
and  to  understand  the  allusion  contained  in  it  to  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  as  connected  with  the  temple  worship 
of  the  Jewish  dispensation,  by  taking  it  as  unto,  instead 
of  in  my  name.  We  shall  therefore  read  the  text  as  if  it 


CHRIST  PRESENT  IN  ASSEMBLIES  OF  HIS  PEOPLE. 


105 


were  written,  "  where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together 
unto  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them." 

You  can  hardly  have  avoided  being  struck  with  the 
very  peculiar  sense  in  which  this  expression  "my  name" 
and  its  equivalents,  the  «  name  of  the  Lord"  "the  name  of 
Jesus"  &c.,  are  used  in  the  scriptures.  For  example, 
where  the  prophet,  speaking  of  Him  who  was  to  be  born 
of  a  virgin,  says:  "His  name  shall  be  called  Wonderful, 
Counsellor,  Mighty  God,  Everlasting  Father,  Prince  of 
Peace."  Do  we  find  our  Lord  actually  called  by  these 
names  in  the  New  Testament  scriptures?  By  the  name 
of  God  and  "the  Great  God"  he  is  called*  in  the  New 
Testament;  but  neither  in  the  New  Testament  nor  in  the 
usage  of  the  Church  do  we  find  the  title  "Wonderful," 
or  "Counsellor,"  or  "Everlasting  Father,"  applied  as  a 
name  of  Christ. 

Again,  in  the  words  of  the  prophet,  concerning  the 
same  divine  person:  "His  name  shall  be  called  Immamiel, 
which  being  interpreted  (says  the  Evangelist  Matthew) 
is,  God  with  us."  But  when  the  child  of  Mary  came  to 
be  named,  he  was  called  Jesus,  and  this  by  divine  direc- 
tion ;  and  nowhere  in  the  New  Testament  writings  is  he 
called  Immanuel.  And  yet  we  do  not  perceive  that  any 
were  at  a  loss  to  account  for  this,  or  that  it  was  ever 
objected  against  the  claims  of  Christ  by  unbelieving  Jews, 
as  if  because  he  was  not  actually  called  Immanuel,  or 
Wonderful,  or  Counsellor,  or  Everlasting  Father,  &c., 
therefore  the  prophecies  were  not  fulfilled  in  him.  The 
reason  is,  that  there  was  a  peculiar  use  of  such  languag  e 
which  the  Hebrews  were  accustomed  to,  and  perfectly 

*  Titus  ii.  13;  Rom.  ix.  5;  2  Pet.  i.  1;  Rev,  xxi.  5-7. 


106  SERMON   V. 

understood,  however  different  from  our  usage.  You  get 
a  nearer  view  of  it  in  this  passage :  "  From  the  rising  of 
the  sun  unto  the  going  down  of  the  same,  my  name  shall 
be  great  among  the  Gentiles,  and  in  every  place  incense 
shall  be  offered  unto  my  name"''  And  again,  where  it  is 
written  of  Christ  that  God  "hath  given  him  a  name 
which  is  above  every  name,  that  at  the  name  of  Jesus, 
every  knee  should  bow,"  &c.| 

But  is  it  to  a  name  only  that  every  knee  is  to  bow,  and 
that  incense  is  everywhere  to  be  offered.  No,  you  an- 
swer. It  is  to  the  Being  whose  name  it  is.  The  name  is 
evidently  used  there  as  an  expression  for  Christ  himself, 
as  the  great  object  of  universal  adoration.  Thus,  bap- 
tized unto  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  is  being  baptized,  consecrated,  unto  the 
Father,  and  the  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost.  So,  "let  every  one 
that  nameth  the  name  of  Christ  depart  from  iniquity," 
means  every  one  that  professes  Christ  himself,  as  his 
Master  and  Saviour.  And  thus,  "His  name  shall  be 
called  Immanuel," — means,  he  shall  le  "  Immanuel,  God 
with  us:"  and  again,  "His  name  shall  be  called  Wonder- 
ful," &c — meant,  he  should  le  among  men,  really  the 
"Wonderful,  Counsellor,  Mighty  God;"  and  whether  he 
has  ever  been  literally  called  by  either  of  those  names 
has  no  connection  with  the  fulfilment  of  those  prophecies 
in  him.  Thus  we  reach  the  text.  "Where  two  or  three 
are  gathered  together  unto  my  name"  means,  gathered 
together  unto  me — unto  me,  with  reference  to  all  that  I 
am  towards  sinners,  to  seek  me  as  the  object  of  their 
worship,  as  their  trust  and  hope. 

*Mal.i.ll.  tPhiLii.  9,  10. 


CHRIST  PRESENT  IN  ASEMBLIES  OF   HIS  PEOPLE.         107 

But  why,  it  may  be  asked,  should  our  Lord  employ 
this  circuitous  expression  ?  Why  not  say,  gathered  unto 
me,  instead  of  unto  my  name?  We  think  that,  besides  its 
conformity  to  a  mode  of  speech  which  the  Jews  were 
accustomed  to,  especially  in  the  Old  Testament  writings, 
there  was  an  important  reference  to  the  promise  of  God's 
presence  in  the  assemblies  of  his  people,  under  the  pre- 
vious dispensation. 

You  will  remember  the  promise  to  the  Jewish  Church, 
which  bore  the  same  relation  to  that  national  and  limited 
dispensation,  that  this  in  our  text  bears  to  the  Christian 
and  universal.  It  was  given  to  that  Church  in  these 
words:  "  In  all  places  w/^r<?  I  record  my  name,  I  ivill  come 
unto  thee  and  I  will  bless  thee."*  Now,  I  need  not  tell 
you  that  after  the  temple  of  Solomon  was  built,  that  was 
the  place  and  the  only  place  that  answered  this  description, 
a  place  where  God  had  recorded  his  name — in  other  words, 
where  God  especially  manifested  his  presence  among  his 
people  Israel.  Accordingly,  when  Solomon  consecrated 
that  sanctuary,  he  said :  "  I  have  built  a  house  for  the 
name  of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel ;"  and  in  his  consecra- 
ting prayer,  he  called  that  house  "the  place  of  which  God 
had  said,  'My  name  shall  be  there.' ":  There  was  the  altar 
of  the  burnt-offering  of  Israel,  and  nowhere  else.  It 
was  not  lawful  to  offer  sacrifice  but  at  that  altar.  There 
only  was  the  mercy-seat,  and  the  covenant,  and  the  she- 
kinah  of  glory.  When  the  tribes  went  up  to  worship  there, 
they  were  said  to  go  up  unto  the  name  of  the  Lord.  If 
they  assembled  anywhere  else  than  around  that  one 

*Ex.  xx.  24. 


108  SEKMON   V. 

altar,  they  were  not  gathered  unto  that  name,  for  nowhere 
else  had  God  appointed  to  meet  and  bless  them. 

Now,  we  think  it  was  with  reference  to  all  this  that  our 
Lord  employed  the  peculiar  language  of  the  text :  "  Where 
two  or  three  are  gathered  together  unto  my  name,  there 
am  I  in  the  midst  of  them.  It  was  to  draw  a  most 
important  contrast  between  the  restrictive  character  of 
the  dispensation  of  the  law,  and  the  free,  the  universal 
adaptation  of  the  dispensation  of  the  Gospel.  Under  the 
former,  God's  name  was  but  in  one  place.  His  promise 
of  special  presence  and  blessing,  was  only  to  those  whose 
sacrifices  were  offered  there.  Under  the  latter,  the  name, 
the  grace,  the  fullness,  of  the  blessing  of  Christ,  the  head 
of  the  Church,  are  present  and  ready,  wherever  the  needy 
meet  together  unto  him,  to  seek  his  face.  Any  house, 
any  place  in  which  such  a  congregation  meets,  is  the  house 
where  God's  name,  Imrnanuel,  God  with  us,  is  placed. 
It  abides  there  as  long  as  that  congregation  is  there. 

We  have  thus  ascertained  the  sense  of  the  peculiar 
language  of  the  text.  Let  us  now  contemplate  a  little 
further  the  peculiarity  of  the  assemblage  described.  They 
are  evidently  gathered  together  for  prayer.  This  is 
manifest  from  the  preceding  verse.  "If  any  of  you  shall 
agree  on  earth,  as  touching  anything  that  they  shall  ask, 
it  shall  be  done  for  them  of  my  Father  which  is  in 
Heaven."  Then  follows  the  assurance  of  Christ's  pres- 
ence with  two  or  three,  showing  that  they  are  supposed  to 
be  gathered  together  to  ask  something,  to  pray.  They 
are  gathered  unto  the  name  of  Christ.  They  bring  their 
sacrifices  of  prayer  and  thanksgiving  unto  Christ,  as 
the  Jews  brought  their  offerings  unto  the  name  of  the 


CHRIST  PRESENT  IN  ASSEMBLIES  OF  HIS  PEOPLE.        109 

Lord,  in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem.     To  come  unto  the 
name  of  Christ,  is  to  come  unto  him  in  all  those  aspects, 
attributes  and  offices  in  which  he  is  revealed  to  us  under 
the  several  names  applied  to  him  in  the  scriptures.     Is 
his  name  "  Immanuel — God  with  us?"     We  must  gather 
together  unto  him  as  the  true  God,  essentially  and  perfectly 
divine — God  with  us,  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  dwelling 
among  us,  because  incarnate  in  our  nature.     Is  his  name 
"  Jesus"  because  "he  shall  save  his  people  from  their  sins  ?  " 
Then  we  gather  unto  him  as  our  Saviour,  our  refuge  and 
only  hope,  as  the  Mediator  between  God  and  man,  through 
whom  alone  we  can  obtain  remission  of  our  sins  and  eter- 
nal life.     Is  it  written,  "  This  is  the  name  by  which  he 
shall  be  called,  'the  Lord,  our  righteousness?'1      Then 
we  must  be  gathered  unto  him  as  our  righteousness,  all 
our  righteousness,  and  a  most  perfect  and  sufficient  right- 
eousness for  the  justification  of  all  that  come,  because  he 
is   Jehovah,  as  well  as   our  righteousness,  whose  perfect 
obedience  to  the  law,  and  suffering  its  penalty  as  man,  for 
us,  is  rendered  infinitely  meritorious  for  our  complete  justi- 
fication. Is  he  represented  as  the  Prophet  of  his  Church,  to 
enlighten  it;  the  Priest  of  his  Church,  to  atone  for  and  sanc- 
tify and  bless  it;  the  King  of  his  Church,  to  rule  over  and 
in  the  hearts  of  his  people  and  to  make  them  the  partakers 
of  his  kingdom  forever?     Then  the  congregation  described 
in  the  text,  is  gathered  unto  him,  as  unto  one  who  fulfils 
towards  them  the  three  offices  expressed  in  those  three 
names — they  come  to  him  for  the  blessings  which  those 
names  promise.     They  pray  unto  him  as  the  true  God. 
They  pray  through  him  as  the  true  and  only  Mediator. 
They  trust  in  him  as  their  only  Righteousness.     He  is 


110  SERMON   V. 

their  altar,  their  atoning  sacrifice,  their  incense,  their  only 
interceding  priest,  the  holy  temple  in  which  God  has 
placed  his  name,  in  which  he  manifests  his  glory,  and  in 
which  sinners  are  brought  nigh  unto  him,  by  the  blood 
of  Jesus.  Thus,  as  the  worshippers  in  Israel  came  on  the 
great  feast-days,  from  all  parts  of  the  earth,  whither  their 
dispersions  had  carried  them,  to  the  one  holy  temple  at 
Jerusalem,  all  concentrating  at  that  one  point,  all  gather- 
ing unto  that  one  altar,  and  sacrifice,  and  priesthood,  and 
mercy-seat ;  all  delighted  to  meet  where  God  had  placed 
his  name,  so  are  all  true  Christians,  of  all  regions  and  all 
ages,  united  and  centered  in  Christ.  And  just  as  the 
temple  in  Jerusalem,  in  all  its  magnificence  and  glory, 
stood  forth  upon  the  holy  hill  of  Zion — so  pre-eminent, 
so  conspicuous,  that  the  eye  rested  everywhere  on  that 
one  commanding,  engrossing  object,  so,  in  the  hearts  of 
those  who  truly  gather  themselves  together,  no  matter 
from  what  corner  of  the  earth,  unto  Christ,  he  is  the 
glorious  vision,  the  tower  of  strength,  the  citadel  of  hope, 
the  mansion  of  grace,  the  brightness  and  fullness  of  the 
Godhead,  that  fixes  every  eye,  delights  every  affection, 
engrosses  every  prayer,  and  concentrates  upon  himself 
the  thankful  trust  of  all  believers.  The  whole  true 
Church  is  always  gathered  together  in  spirit  there,  whether 
it  be  on  earth  or  in  heaven.  Thus,  it  is  a  true  and  living 
Church.  Thus,  it  is  essentially  one.  Gather  it  in  spirit, 
in  heart,  in  trust,  in  love,  in  praise,  anywhere  but  just 
there,  unto  that  name,  and  its  whole  spiritual  being  is 
gone.  It  is  no  more  a  living  Church  of  Christ.  It  may 
keep  all  the  forms,  and  sacraments,  and  ministry,  but  it 
cannot  be  a  living  Church  of  Christ.  Unto  that  one  altar, 


CHRIST  PRESENT  IN  ASSEMBLIES  OF  HIS  PEOPLE.         Ill 

Christ;  unto  that  one  sacrifice,  Christ;  unto  that  one 
Priest  to  make  intercession ;  unto  that  one  temple  of  the 
Godhead,  Christ,  must  the  Church  be  gathered,  and  there 
alone  must  be  its  hope,  or  a  Church  it  is  but  in  name  and 
visible  form,  exactly  as  the  individual  man,  whose  heart 
and  hope  are  not  centered  there,  can  be  a  Christian  but 
in  name  and  form. 

Thus,  we  have  seen  all  the  peculiarity  of  the  assembly 
to  which  the  promise  of  Christ's  presence  is  given.  And 
before  we  leave  this  part  of  our  subject,  I  beg  you  will 
observe  two  things: 

First,  that  whether  the  number  gathered  together  be 
great  or  small,  affects  not  the  application  of  the  promise  ; 
the  presence  of  Christ  is  there.  The  specification  in  the 
text  is  reduced  to  the  fewest  members  of  which  a  meeting 
of  praying  people  can  consist — two  or  three.  Thousands 
may  pomvout  their  hearts  together,  or  a  very  little  flock 
of  Christ's  people  may  be  found  to  seek  him  in  prayer 
and  praise,  while  all  around  them  is  ungodliness  and  spir- 
itual death;  but  like  the  light  of  God  that  shone  in  the 
dwelling  of  the  Israelite  in  Egypt,  on  whose  door-post 
was  sprinkled  the  blood  of  the  paschal  lamb,  while  on  all 
the  land  lay  the  deepest  darkness,  so  is  the  Saviour  in 
the  midst  of  that  little  flock,  and  manifesting  himself  as 
"Immanuel,  God  with  us"  "full  of  grace  and  truth,"  the 
light  of  life. 

Observe,  again,  that  the  place  where  the  gather- 
ing together  unto  Christ  occurs,  has  no  connection 
with  the  promised  presence.  Place,  as  we  have  seen  al- 
ready, was  once  most  materially  connected  with  the  pro- 
mise of  the  presence  of  God  in  the  assemblies  of  his 


112  SERMON   V. 

people.  As  one  nation  was  chosen  out  of  all  nations  to 
be  his  people,  and  one  tribe  out  of  all  their  tribes  to  offi- 
ciate in  his  worship,  and  one  family  of  that  tribe  to  be 
exclusively  the  priests,  so  was  one  land  selected  to  be  the 
holy  land,  and  one  city  to  be  the  holy  city,  and  one  house 
to  be  God's  holy  temple,  and  one  chamber  of  that  house 
to  be  holy  above  all  others,  because  it  was  there  his  name 
was  specially  recorded,  and  there  was  the  special  sign  of 
his  presence  in  the  visible  glory  above  the  mercy-seat. 

In  all  this,  there  was  reason  then.  But  it  is  all  passed 
away.  The  veil  rent  in  twain  from  top  to  bottom,  when 
Jesus,  our  only  mediating  priest,  had  finished  the  only 
sacrifice  that  can  take  away  sin;  the  inner  sanctuary 
of  the  temple,  the  holy  of  holies,  thus  thrown  [open  to 
universal  view;  that  was  the  sign  from  heaven,  that  in 
all  such  respects,  old  things  were  now  to  pass  away  and 
all  to  become  new.  The  holy  nation,  the  peculiar  people, 
is  now  the  universal  Church,  embracing  the  ends  of  the 
earth,  "the  blessed  company  of  all  believers"  Its  holy 
priesthood,  under  Christ,  is  none  other  than  that  same 
"  blessed  company  of  all  believers."  "  Ye,  (saith  St.  Peter, 
addressing  all  of  them,)  are  a  holy  priesthood,  to  offer 
up  spiritual  sacrifices,  acceptable  to  God,  by  Jesus  Christ."5* 
Thtir  sacrifices  are  themselves' — their  bodies  and  spirits — 
in  love,  in  faith,  in  prayer,  in  thankfulness,  in  praise,  in 
obedience.  The  great  priest  of  our  profession,  by  whom 
every  one  of  that  universal  priesthood  of  worshipping 
believers,  presents  himself  acceptable  unto  God,  is  he, 
who  having  first  presented  himself  a  propitiatory  sacrifice 
for  our  sins,  now  "  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  all 
that  come  unto  God  by  him."  Restriction  of  place  has 

*1  Peter,  ii.  5. 


CHRIST  PRESENT  IN  ASSEMBLIES  OF  HIS  PEOPLE.         113 

vanished  with  that  whole  peculiar  system  of  which  it  was 
a  part.  The  name  of  the  Lord  God  is  not  now  recorded 
in  one  spot  of  earth  more  than  another;  but  is  recorded, 
as  no  where  else  in  earth  or  heaven  it  can  be,  in  him  of 
whom  it  is  written,  "His  name  shall  be  called  Immanuel, 
which  being  interpreted  is,  God  with  us."  That  name 
indicates  the  true  temple  of  our  worship,  the  true  and 
only  sanctuary  of  our  hopes.  In  Christ,  our  Lord, 
"dwelleth  all  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead,  ~bodily"  In  the 
typical  temple  at  Jerusalem,  it  dwelled  only  in  sym- 
bol of  wondrous  light.  In  the  real  temple,  our  blessed 
Lord,  it  dwells  in  all  the  reality  of  its  unsearchable  glory, 
by  a  personal  union  of  the  divine  nature  with  the  human. 
In  him  is  the  only  sacrifice  for  sin.  In  him  is  the  true 
mercy-seat  and  the  ever-living  and  prevailing  intercession. 
To  that  glorious  temple  all  the  ends  of  the  earth  are  com- 
manded to  look,  and  all  places  on  earth  are  equally  near. 
Where,  then,  under  the  whole  dome  of  the  sky,  is  that 
little  company' — those  two  or  three  gathered  to  worship 
Jesus,  to  trust  in  him,  to  love  him,  to  approach  the 
Father  by  him,  as  Jehovah  their  Righteousness,  Jehovah 
their  King  ?  Where  are  they  ?  Is  it  that  little  band  in  the 
upper  chamber  on  the  day  of  Pentecost?  is  it  Paul  and 
Silas  in  the  dungeon  of  Philippi  ?  is  it  the  humble  gather- 
ing of  a  few  persecuted  ones,  taking  refuge  in  the  dens 
and  caves  of  the  earth,  hunted  by  the  terrors  of  Pagan 
Home,  or  by  the  fiercer,  more  unsparing  persecutions  of 
Papal  Rome?  is  it  the  retired  worship  of  some  of  you, 
my  brethren,  praying,  one  with  another,  in  one  of  your 
own  dwelling  places;  or  the  simple  Christian  household 

gathered  for  its  daily  family  worship,  with  Bible  in  hand. 
8 


114  SERMON   V. 

and  looking  unto  Jesus?  is  it  the  two  or  three  cast  upon 
a  desert  shore,  or  alone  in  some  Sodom  of  ungodliness,  or 
afar  off  on  the  outskirts  of  our  wide-spread  population; 
the  forest  their  church,  the  sky  their  shelter;  no  minister 
to  preach  to  them,  no  ordained  hands  to  give  them  the 
sacrament? — still, let  them  be  only  gathered  together  unto 
the  name  of  Christ — there  Christ  is,  as  head  of  his 
Church,  in  all  the  riches  of  his  grace  and  fullness  of  his 
promises,  in  their  midst,  to  hear  them,  to  bless  them,  as 
richly,  as  directly,  as  if  the  place  were  the  consecrated 
Church,  in  all  the  sanctity  and  grandeur  of  the  temple 
of  Jerusalem,  in  its  original  glory. 

That  place,  we  said,  may  be  without  the  presence  of  a 
minister  of  the  Gospel.  Still,  if  the  two  or  three  be 
gathered  there  unto  the  name,  unto  the  mediation  of 
Christ,  the  promise  of  his  presence  is  theirs.  There  are 
reasons  enough  to  show  the  value  of  an  ordained  ministry 
to  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  Church,  without  making 
the  nearness  of  access  between  Christ  and  his  people,  in 
the  least  dependent  on  that  agency.  In  coming  to  God, 
through  Christ,  there  is  no  difference  between  one  sinner 
and  another,  one  believer  and  another,  the  least  of  the 
laity  and  the  highest  of  the  ministry.  The  mercy-seat, 
the  blood  of  Jesus,  the  peace  of  God,  are  most  freely 
accessible  to  all  alike.  A  contrite  heart  and  a  living  faith 
are  equally  demanded  of  all  and  equally  qualify  all. 

That  place,  we  said,  may  be  without  the  presence  of 
the  sacrament  of  the  Saviour's  body  and  blood.  The 
promise  of  the  Saviour's  presence  is  not  dependent  on  the 
actual  reception,  under  all  circumstances,  of  that  most 
precious  sign  and  pledge  of  his  presence  with  his  people. 


CHRIST  PRESENT  IN  ASSEMBLIES  OF  HIS  PEOPLE.        115 

There  are  reasons  enough  for  us  to  love  it  and  wait  on  it, 
as  a  precious  means  of  grace  to  the  penitent  and  believing 
communicant,  without  placing  it  in  any  such  essential 
relation.  The  same  faith  that  obtains  the  presence  of 
Christ  among  his  people  assembled  at  his  visible  table, 
obtains  it  also,  when,  without  the  visible  table  and  sacra- 
mental signs,  they  are  gathered  unto  that  true  and  living 
bread  which  they  signify. 

We  say  the  same  of  the  consecrated  Church.  A  more 
unwarranted,  unevangelical  idea  cannot  be  entertained, 
than  that  because  we  consecrate  our  houses  of  worship, 
it  is  the  teaching  of  our  Church  that  prayer  is  more 
acceptable  to  God  in  such  places  than  any  where  else ; 
that  the  praying  soul  is  any  nearer  the  throne  of  grace 
kneeling  within  such  walls,  than  when  kneeling  in  the 
cottage  or  the  forest ;  that  the  two  or  three  are  any  more 
certain  of  the  presence  of  Christ  in  that  place,  than  if 
they  were  gathered  together  on  the  desert  mountain,  or 
in  some  cave  of  the  earth;  or  that  any  part  of  a  conse- 
crated Church,  as  the  chancel,  the  part  about  the  com- 
munion table,  is  any  more  holy,  or  any  nearer  to  Christ,  or 
spiritually  privileged,  than  any  other  part 

It  was  to  avoid  the  Romish  superstition  that  the  place 
where  the  table  stands  and  the  Lord's  supper  is  adminis- 
tered, is  more  holy,  and  more  privileged,  and  nearer  to 
God,  than  where  the  Gospel  is  preached  and  the  people 
pray  and  praise,  (a  superstition  quite  in  keeping  with  the 
Judaism  of  the  Romish,  and  equally  repugnant  to  the 
Catholic  spirituality  of  the  true  Gospel  faith,)  that  it 
was  directed  by  the  reformers  of  our  mother  Church,  that 
the  sacramental  table,  instead  of  a  fixed,  stone,  altar- 


116  SERMON   V. 

shaped  structure,  as  it  had  been  under  the  Romish  sway, 
should  be  a  table  of  wood,  and  movable,  easily  taken 
from  place  to  place,  as  the  convenience  of  the  congrega- 
tion should  require.*  And,  in  particular  denial  that  the 
consecrated  building  renders  prayer  therein  any  more 
acceptable  or  effectual,  our  Homilies  declare  that  "the 
chief  and  special  temples  of  God,  wherein  he  hath  the 
greatest  pleasure  and  most  delighteth  to  dwell,  are  the 
bodies  and  minds  of  true  Christians;"!  "that  the  Church 
or  temple  is  counted  and  called  holy,  not  of  itself,  but 
because  God's  people  resorting  thereunto  are  holy,  and 
exercise  themselves  in  holy  and  heavenly  things  ;  "J  so 
that  the  house  is  holy  because  of  the  prayer  of  the  people 
in  it;  and  not  the  prayers  acceptable  in  any  degree 
because  of  the  house.  And  again,  our  Homilies  say,  that 
"  the  Apostles  and  holy  fathers  knew  that  their  prayers 
were  heard  in  what  place  soever  they  made  them,  though 
it  were  in  caves,  in  woods  and  in  deserts ;"§  and  "they 
that  worship  God  the  Father,  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  in 
whatsoever  place  they  do  it,  worship  him  aright." || 

We  must  be  careful  to  keep  clear  in  our  minds,  the 
broad  distinction  between  the  faith  of  a  worshipping  people 
and  all  those  privileges  and  means  of  grace  which  are 

*  Our  Rubric,  before  the  communion  office,  directs  that  the  communion 
table  shall  stand  "  in  the  body  of  the  church  or  in  the  chancel."  Custom  places 
it  in  the  chancel.  But  what  if  it  should  be  placed  in  the  midst  of  the  pews, 
in  the  body  of  the  church,  without  rails  around  it,  unfenced ;  how  would  it 
shock  the  reverence  of  some,  especially  of  those  who  ascribe  a  very  special 
holiness,  not  only  to  the  table,  but  to  the  par  Is  around  it !  And  yet  it  would 
be  placed  just  as  consistently  with  the  written  order  of  the  Church  as  if  it 
were  in  the  chancel. 

f  Horn  Of  Time  and  Place  of  Prayer.         \  Horn.  For  Repairing  the  Church 
§  Horn.  On  the  Place  and  Tinae  of  Prayer.       ||  Horn.  Of  the  Right  Use  of  the 
Church. 


CHRIST  PRESENT  IN  ASSEMBLIES  OF  HIS  PEOPLE.         117 

appointed  for  the  help  of  that  faith.  The  two  or  three 
gathered  unto  Christ  on  some  desert  shore,  and  the  hun- 
dreds assembled  in  the  consecrated  sanctuary,  with  the 
Gospel  preached  and  sacraments  ministered,  certainly  differ 
to  a  very  important  extent,  in  those  things  which  are 
appointed  as  outward  helps  of  faith  and  means  of  grace. 
But  if  you  only  suppose  the  faith  in  the  hearts  of  the 
little  band  in  the  desert,  with  no  outward  means  but  their 
united  prayers,  to  be  as  genuine  as  the  faith  of  the  privi- 
leged congregation  with  the  full  equipment  of  ecclesiastical 
appointments,  the  presence  of  the  Lord  in  the  riches  of 
his  grace  is  the  blessing  of  the  one,  just  as  much  as  of 
the  other.  "He  that  lelieveth  shall  be  saved." 

II.  We  come  now  in  the  second  part  of  this  discourse 
to  consider  the  nature  and  preciomness  of  the  blessings 
embraced  in  the  promise  of  the  presence  of  our  Lord  in 
the  midst  of  his  worshipping  people. 

You  will  perceive  that  the  text  is  a  declaration  of 
omnipresence.  It  is  the  declaration  on  the  part  of  our 
Lord  Jesus,  that  though  there  should  be  as  many  separate 
gatherings  unto  his  name  as  there  are  separate  places  on 
the  whole  earth  for  them  to  be  held  in,  all  at  the  same 
precise  moment,  he  is  present  in  each  and  all.  "  There 
am  I  in  the  midst "  of  each  assembly.  But  such  omni- 
presence is  an  essential  and  incommunicable  attribute  of 
the  Divine  nature.  Hence  we  know  that  it  cannot  be 
with  reference  to  his  human  nature,  his  human  body  and 
soul,  that  our  Lord  will  be  present  in  the  assemblies  of 
his  people.  It  is  therefore  in  his  divine  nature  as  God, 
though  in  his  office  as  Mediator,  that  his  presence  is 
promised.  He  that  said,  "before  Abraham  was  /  am" 


118  SERMON   V. 

thus  expressing  his  presence  as  God  in  all  time,  said  also, 
"  where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name, 
there  /  am"  thus  expressing  his  presence  as  God,  the 
Redeemer,  with  his  people  in  all  places.  But  wherein, 
then,  is  the  peculiarity  of  the  promise?  Is  not  Christ, 
as  God,  present  to  all  people,  in  all  places,  whether  they 
be  gathered  unto  his  name  for  worship,  or  against  his 
name,  for  blasphemy?  There  is  an  essential  presence — 
God  is  every  where.  There  is  a  gracious  presence — God 
is  with  the  righteous — his  presence  is  the  exclusive  bless- 
ing of  his  people.  This  it  is  that  makes  heaven.  To  all 
beings  our  Lord  is  present  as  the  upholder  of  all;  to  all 
men  as  the  Judge  of  all;  to  the  lost  in  eternity,  as  the 
avenger  of  his  law ;  to  his  people  here  as  their  Mediator, 
their  strength,  and  light,  and  joy,  and  life;  their  shepherd, 
their  salvation.  To  his  people  in  heaven,  he  is  present 
as  their  infinite  portion  and  glory  forever. 

Jacob,  when  he  fled  from  the  face  of  Esau,  well  knew 
that  at  every  step  of  that  long  jonrney,  God  was  present. 
But  the  night  on  which,  in  a  solitary  place,  he  saw  in  his 
sleep,  the  mystic  ladder  reaching  from  heaven  to  where 
he  lay,  angels  of  grace  coming  and  going  thereon,  and 
above,  the  Lord  manifesting  himself  to  the  desolate  heart 
of  the  patriarch,  as  he  doth  not  unto  the  world,  he  exclaim- 
ed, "surely  the  Lord  is  in  this  place — this  is  none  other 
but  the  house  of  God  and  this  is  the  gate  of  Heaven"* 

It  was  the  relation  in  which  God  was  present  to  Jacob, 
then,  and  the  manifestation  of  that  relation,  that  made 
him  present  that  night,  in  that  place,  as  he  had  not  been 
elsewhere.  And  such  is  the  peculiarity  of  the  presence 

*Gen.  xxviii.  11-18. 


CHRIST  PRESENT  IN  ASSEMBLIES  OF  HIS  PEOPLE.          119 

of  Christ,  as  God,  in  the  assemblies  of  his  people.  He 
is  present  as  their  God,  their  Saviour;  as  bearing  a  rela- 
tion of  most  special  nearness  and  preciousness  to  them ; 
as  full  of  grace  for  them  ;  waiting  to  receive  their  prayers, 
manifesting  himself  unto  them,  in  their  hearts,  by  his 
Spirit,  as  he  doth  not  unto  the  world ;  so  that  the  desert, 
or  dungeon,  or  den  of  the  earth,  if  their  gathering  together 
be  there,  is  "none  other  than  the  house  of  God  and  the 
gate  of  heaven." 

It  is  manifestly  the  object  of  the  text  to  teach  that 
there  is  a  special  blessing  to  be  expected,  and  therefore  a 
special  duty  to  be  fulfilled,  in  the  gathering  of  ourselves 
together  for  common  prayer. 

We  have  no  lack  of  assurance  that  the  presence  of  the 
Lord,  in  all  its  preciousness,  is  granted  to  the  single  con- 
trite, praying  heart.  "  To  this  man  will  I  look  (saith  the 
Lord),  even  to  him  that  is  of  an  humble  and  contrite 
spirit,  and  that  trembleth  at  my  word."  There  is  a 
special  promise  to  secret  prayer.  "Thou,  when  thou 
prayest,  enter  into  thy  closet;  and  when  thou  hast  shut 
thy  door,  pray  to  thy  Father  which  is  in  secret,  and  thy 
Father  which  seeth  in  secret  shall  reward  thee  openly."* 
But  if  secret  prayer  has  its  advantages  and  special  bless- 
ing, so  has  the  united  prayer — the  social  worship — the 
gathering  together  of  the  Lord's  worshippers  to  join  heart 
to  heart,  and  voice  to  voice,  in  supplication  and  praise. 
Hence,  in  all  ages,  the  great  stress  laid  on  public  wor- 
ship— first,  the  secret  prayer  within  the  veil  of  each  one's 
own  private  sanctuary,  then  the  coming  of  the  several 
worshippers,  each  with  the  fire  and  incense  of  his  solitary 

*Matt.  vi.  6. 


120  SERMON  V. 

offering,  to  put  all  together  in  one  holy  flame  and  one 
fragrant  cloud,  ascending  before  the  mercy  seat  through 
the  offering  of  Jesus,  "once  for  all."  These  two  methods 
of  coming  unto  the  name  of  Jesus  must  go  together.  If 
the  private,  under  certain  circumstances,  can  live  without 
the  social,  the  social  cannot,  under  any  circumstances,  ex- 
ist, except  in  form,  without  the  private.  He  who  knows 
the  most  of  the  pleasures,  the  consolations,  the  manifold 
blessings  of  secret  prayer,  will  invariably  be  the  best 
qualified  and  the  readiest  to  partake  in  the  privileges  of 
more  public  prayer. 

And  now,  brethren,  let  us  bring  all  this  subject  into 
nearer  application  to  our  hearts  and  consciences.  How 
ought  we  to  meet  the  promise  in  the  text?  What  cor- 
responding emotions  and  efforts  of  mind  does  it  demand 
of  us?  For  what  purpose  is  our  Lord  thus  present  in  the 
assemblies  of  his  people,  gathered  unto  his  name?  They 
come  to  him  in  prayer.  In  what  aspect — to  what  end, 
does  he  come  into  the  midst  of  them?  The  promise  of 
the  Old  Testament  was — "In  all  places  where  I  record 
my  name,  I  will  come  unto  thee,  and  I  will  bless  thee" 
That  promise,  I  will  bless  thee,  is  not  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment text,  It  was  enough  for  him  who  "is  full  of  grace  " 
to  say  under  the  Gospel  dispensation,  "  I  am  in  the  midst 
of  them."  We  know  it  must  be  to  bless  them.  Why 
cometh  the  glorious  sun,  if  not  to  shine?  why  the  plen- 
teous fountain  of  grace,  if  not  to  flow?  why  the  very 
bread  of  God,  if  not  to  feed  us?  why  the  Shepherd  of 
Israel  in  the  midst  of  his  flock,  if  not  to  distribute  out 
of  his  fullness  as  every  one  hath  need? 

Now  what  is  it  we  need,  and  what  should  we  cultivate  in 


CHRIST  PRESENT  IN  ASSEMBLIES  OF  HIS  PEOPLE.         121 

our  hearts,  in  order  that  we  may  derive  the  more  benefit 
from  that  presence?  I  answer,  faith — moTQ  faith  to  real- 
ize that  presence.  To  that  one  point  I  confine  our  appli- 
cation of  this  discourse.  You  remember  with  what  joy 
the  pious  Israelites  went  up  to  the  gathering  of  the  tribes 
unto  the  name  of  the  Lord  at  Jerusalem.  "I  was  glad 
when  they  said  unto  me,  '  Let  us  go  into  the  house  of 
the  Lord.  Our  feet  shall  stand  in  thy  gates,  0  Jerusa- 
lem. How  lovely  are  thy  tabernacles,  0  Lord  of  Hosts ! 
My  soul  longeth,  yea,  even  fainteth  for  the  courts  of  the 
Lord."^  Whence  came  this  high  joy — this  large  expec- 
tation? They  believed  the  promise,  "In  the  place  where 
I  record  my  name,  I  will  come  unto  thee,  and  I  will  bless 
thee."  They  expected  to  meet  God — to  come  into  his 
very  presence,  to  receive  out  of  his  fullness.  Who  can 
wonder  that  they  were  glad  to  go  up,  and  longed  for  the 
time  to  arrive?  But  how  does  this  rebuke  the  spirit  of 
Christian  worshippers !  It  seems  as  if,  with  the  enlarge- 
ment of  our  privilege,  had  come  the  diminution  of  our 
disposition  to  embrace  it.  Why  is  it  that  the  opportuni- 
ties of  public  worship  are  so  languidly  appreciated  by 
great  numbers  of  those  who  consider  themselves  to  be 
true  worshippers?  How  is  it  that  so  many  little  difficul- 
ties serve  as  great  hindrances  to  keep  them  from  the 
house  of  prayer — difficulties  which  in  matters  of  worldly 
interest  the  same  people  would  be  ashamed  to  make  of 
so  much  consequence  ?  Why  is  it  that  when  we  come  up 
to  the  gathering  of  the  people  to  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
we  do  it  too  much  as  only  a  reasonable  duty,  a  befitting 
solemnity,  a  profitable  thing  in  some  general  way,  instead 

*Psalms  cxxii.  1,2;  Ixxxiv.  1,  2. 


122  SERMON    V. 

of  having  our  minds  set  on  the  one  single  and  engross- 
ing object  of  meeting  and  communing  directly  with  the 
Lord  where  he  has  promised  to  be  present?     Oh!  how 
should  we  see  the  pillar  of  cloud  resting  over  the  place 
of  the  congregation  of  the  Lord's  people,  as  it  did  of  old 
over  the  tabernacle  of  Israel,  saying,  "  the  Lord  is  in  this 
place ;  this  is  none  other  than  the  house  of  God  and  the 
gate  of  Heaven."     With  what  joy  should  we  hail  the  Sab- 
bath of  worship;  with  what  high  expectation  should  we 
enter  into  the  courts  of  the  Lord ;  how  would  our  hearts 
be  lifted  up  at  those  words,  "The  Lord  is  in  his  holy 
temple,"  had  we  more  practical  faith  to  realize  what  intel- 
lectually we  so  well  believe.     We  must  seek  more  of  such 
faith.     We  must  go  to  the  assembling  together  of  Christ's 
people,  realizing  who  is  there — who  besides  the  visible 
company  of  believers — that  great  Shepherd  of  Israel  in 
all  his  tenderness  and  love;  that  searcher  of  hearts  see- 
ing our  every  want,  and  weakness,  and  hindrance,  and 
desire ;  that  most  merciful  and  compassionate  High  Priest 
who  waits  to  take  our  poor,  polluted,  unworthy  prayers, 
and  offer  them  to  the  Father,  with  the  merit  and  efficacy 
of  his  own  intercession ;  that  mighty  Redeemer  who  hath 
all  power  in  heaven  and  earth  for  the  very  purpose  of 
answering  the   prayers,  and   supplying  the   wants,   and 
overcoming  the  adversaries  of  his   people.     What  more 
appropriate  song   for  a  company   of  believers,  gathered 
unto  his  name,  can  there  be,  than  that  which  we  so  often 
sing  in  our  assemblies — "0,  come,  let  us  sing  unto  the 
Lord;  let  us  heartily  rejoice  in  the  God  of  our  salvation." 
What  needest  thou,  Christian  pilgrim,  in  thy  journey- 
Christian  soldier,  in  thy  warfare — Christian  laborer,  in  thy 


CHRIST  PRESENT  IN  ASSEMBLIES  OF  HIS  PEOPLE.          123 

work?  What  needest  thou,  poor  sinner,  in  thy  unwor- 
thiness,  and  weakness,  and  temptation  ?  What  wouldst 
thou  that  the  Lord  should  do  unto  thee  ?  Think  what 
thy  need  is,  when  thou  goest  where  the  Lord  is  in  the 
midst  of  his  assembled  people.  Is  it  that  the  eyes  of 
your  understanding  may  be  more  opened  to  see  the  things 
of  the  Spirit  of  God?  Is  is  that  you  may  be  enabled 
more  entirely  to  overcome  the  world?  Is  it  that  you 
may  be  led  more  powerfully,  more  habitually,  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  as  a  child  of  God  ?  Be  prepared  with  your 
petition,  whatever  it  be.  "  The  Lord  is  in  his  holy  tem- 
ple." He  is  waiting  to  give  thee  audience.  You  see  him 
not.  He  sees  you.  It  is  "  the  accepted  time."  Lift  up 
your  heart  unto  the  Lord.  The  Lord  increase  our  faith! 
and  grant  us  to  know  by  sweet  experience  how  his 
presence  can  turn  our  darkness  into  day,  and  make  us 
drink  of  rivers  of  living  water  in  "a  dry  and  thirsty  land 
where  no  water  is." 


SERMON  VI. 

THE  NATURE  AND  CONDEMNATION  OF  SIN. 


1  JOHN  iii.  4. 

"  Sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law." 

THE  essential  foundation  of  all  right  appreciation  of  the 
Gospel  of  our  salvation,  is  a  right  view  of  that  from 
which  it  is  our  deliverance' — sin;  its  nature,  its  evil, 
its  condemnation.  To  think  of  understanding  what 
Christ  has  done  to  save  us,  without  first  learning  what 
sin  has  done  to  ruin  us;  to  think  of  estimating  aright  the 
exceeding  preciousness  of  the  redemption,  before  our 
eyes  have  been  opened  to  see  the  entireness  of  our  con- 
demnation, is  the  sure  way  to  come  short  in  all  our  hopes 
of  the  grace  of  God,  as  revealed  in  the  person  and  offices 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

We  propose,  at  this  time,  a  consideration  of  sin,  as  the 
basis  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Saviour.  To  ears  listening 
for  such  attractions  of  discourse  as  are  independent  of  the 
vital  seriousness  of  the  subject,  we  can  promise  but  little. 
To  hearers  who  hear  for  spiritual  profit,  and  whose  interest 
is  proportioned  to  the  importance  of  the  subject,  we  could 
not  propose  one  more  calculated  to  fasten  their  closest  at- 
tention. May  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  be  our  guide,  teaching 
me  so  to  speak,  and  you  so  to  hear,  that  all  of  us  may 


THE  NATURE  AND  CONDEMNATION  OF  SIN.        125 

be  accounted  before  God  as  good  stewards  of  the  manifold 
riches  of  his  grace. 

1.  What  is  sin?  The  text  answers  in  one  of  the 
plainest  and  most  concise  statements  that  words  could 
furnish — "Sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law"  Suppose 
you  were  inquiring  concerning  sin  in  general — not  merely 
against  God,  but  against  any  human  government — the 
same  answer  serves  universally.  Sin  or  crime,  any  where, 
before  any  tribunal,  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  the 
transgression  of  the  law.  As  law  is  the  only  measure  of 
obedience,  its  transgression  is  the  only  measure  of  disobe- 
dience. As  its  fulfilment  is  innocence,  its  violation  is 
guilt.  If  there  be  no  law,  there  can  be  no  transgression, 
and  consequently  no  sin.  By  the  law,  therefore,  is  the 
only  knowledge  of  sin.  Nothing  else  but  law  can  be 
admitted  to  take  part  in  the  determination  of  what  is  sin. 
These  elementary  truths  are  equally  applicable  to  all  laws, 
human  and  divine. 

Returning  then  to  the  nature  of  sin  against  God,  as 
defined  to  be  the  transgression  of  God's  law,  you  will  see 
at  once  that  all  depends  on  what  that  law  is.  Here  we 
have  no  difficulty.  The  plain  answer  is,  the  revealed  ivill 
of  God.  If  he  hath  not  made  known  to  us  his  will — if 
he  hath  not  written  it,  either  on  the  tables  of  our  con- 
science, or  in  his  visible  works,  or  in  his  scriptures,  so  that 
if  we  will,  we  may  know  it,  it  is  not  law  for  us.  But  if 
he  have  so  revealed  it,  then,  though  by  our  negligence  and 
indifference  we  may  be  ignorant  of  it,  it  is  law  for  us,  and 
sin  is  its  transgression. 

It  matters  not  how  the  will  of  God  is  made  known  to 
us — whether  by  the  voice  of  natural  conscience  or  by  the 


126  SERMON   VI. 

written  word — whether  in  the  brief  compendium  called 
the  ten  commandments,  or  as  they  are  expanded  and  ap- 
plied in  any  precept  of  the  scriptures — whether  you  find 
it  formally  declared,  or  only  informally  indicated — 
whether  the  thunders  of  Sinai  or  the  mercies  of  Calvary 
be  our  teachers — a  chapter  of  Moses  or  a  sermon  of  Je- 
sus: whatever,  in  any  way,  we  learn,  or  may  learn,  to  be 
God's  will  for  us,  that  is  the  law.  Thus,  a  promise  of  the 
Gospel  is  law,  because  it  essentially  implies  the  duty  of 
embracing  it.  Thus  all  the  love  of  God  in  Christ  is  the 
giving  of  his  law,  because  it  publishes  and  seeks  to  write 
on  our  hearts  the  obligation  of  love,  and  gratitude,  and 
obedience,  in  return.  Thus,  in  an  important  sense,  the 
Gospel  is  all  law,  and  the  very  strongest  publication  of 
the  law;  because  not  only  does  it  confirm  and  establish 
it,  but  declares  it  under  additional  sanctions ;  makes  its 
violation  the  more  guilty,  and  enlarges  our  knowledge  of 
the  divine  will  in  all  things.  The  injunction  to  believe  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  law,  and  the  exhortation  to  re- 
pent is  law,  and  to  embrace  every  promise  made  to 
penitent  sinners  in  Christ,  and  to  set  our  hearts  upon  the 
blessedness  of  his  kingdom — all  this  is  as  truly  God's  law 
to  us,  as  the  ten  commandments  of  Sinai. 

2.  "The  law  of  God  is  perfect"  It  extends  to  the 
whole  of  man;  it  leaves  no  part  of  him,  no  faculty  of  body 
or  mind,  no  thought,  no  affection,  no  deed,  no  moment,  un- 
embraced.  Human  laws  are  necessarily  exceedingly  im- 
perfect; they  must  leave  out  the  government  of  the  whole 
inner  man,  and  all  the  secret  springs  of  man.  But  God 
looks  upon  the  heart,  and  therefore  legislates  for  the 
heart;  and  as  the  fountains  out  of  which  are  the  issues 


TEE  NATURE  AND  CONDEMNATION  OF  SIN.  127 

of  life  dwell  there,  it  is  there,  where  no  other  law  can 
reach,  that  his  will  is  heard  in  its  most  solemn  and 
searching  requirements.  God's  law  is  perfect;  nothing 
in  us  or  by  us  is  too  minute  or  secret  to  escape  its  pro- 
visions. These  truths  are  elementary  and  self-evident. 
To  suppose  that  there  is  any  thing  in  us  to  which  his  law 
does  not  extend,  is  to  suppose  that  man,  in  something,  is 
not  under  God's  government;  in  other  words,  is  indepen- 
dent of  the  will  of  his  Maker. 

3.  Another  self-evident  truth:  God's  law  requires 
of  all  a  perfed  obedience.  What  else  can  it  require? 
Was  there  ever  a  law  of  any  sort  that  did  not  require  the 
same?  To  say  that  a  law  requires  but  a  partial  obedi- 
ence, is  to  say  that  only  part  of  it  is  really  law.  In  that 
part  in  which  it  does  not  require  perfect  obedience,  or  in 
that  degree  in  which  disobedience  may  be  tolerated,  it 
may  be  advice,  but  it  cannot  be  law.  To  say  that  God 
does  not  require  us  to  come  up  to  the  fullness  of  a  certain 
commandment,  is  to  say  that  in  its  fullness  it  is  not  his 
commandment.  Whatever  is  law,  must  by  its  nature  re- 
quire complete  obedience.  Its  transgression  must  be 
sin. 

Here,  then,  the  question  comes  again,  What  is  sin? 
We  are  prepared  with  the  answer,  because  we  have  ascer- 
tained the  law.  Whatever  falls  short  of,  whatever  trans- 
gresses, in  outward  deed,  or  inward  thought,  or  affection, 
any,  the  least  part  of  that  will  or  law  of  God,  from  the 
earliest  moment  of  your  accountableness  to  the  latest,  is 
sin.  Whit!  replies  some  hearer,  am  I  marked  in  God's 
remembrance,  with  such  awful  strictness  ?  Can  I  fail  in 
nothing,  in  not  even  a  thought,  or  a  moment  of  perfect 


128  SERMON  VI. 

fulfilment,  but  it  is  sin;  and  sin  to  be  brought  into  judg- 
ment ?  You  can  answer  for  yourself,  if  you  will  repeat 
the  necessary  definition  of  sin — "  the  transgression  of  the 
laiv"  Is  it  not  the  same  under  all  governments  ?  Can 
you  come  short  in  any  thing  of  the  law  of  this  land, 
without  being  guilty  before  it  ?  The  government  may  be 
too  imperfect  to  take  cognizance  of  your  guilt,  but  that 
does  not  make  you  the  less  guilty.  It  may  be  able  to 
prove  nothing  against  you,  because  its  eye  is  not  in  every 
place  beholding  the  evil  and  the  good;  but  your  guilt  is 
all  the  same.  And  now  let  us  advance  one  step  further. 

There  is  a  passage  in  St.  James'  Epistle  which  reads 
thus:  "Whosoever  shall  keep  the  whole  law  and  yet  offend 
in  one  point,  he  is  guilty  of  all."^  It  sounds  unrea- 
sonable, but  we  will  show  you  that  ifc  is  nothing  peculiar 
to  the  divine  law.  The  meaning  is,  that  every  single  sin  is 
the  breaking  of  the  whole  law.  The  mind  of  James  was 
probably  led  to  the  utterance  of  this  principle,  by  one  of 
those  traditionary  notions  whereby  the  Jews,  in  his  day, 
made  void  the  law. 

The  Scribes  taught  that  by  the  strict  observance  of 
some  one  requirement  of  the  law,  a  man  would  secure  the 
favor  of  God,  though  he  neglected  all  others.  The 
Pharisees,  therefore,  used  to  select  some  prominent  duty, 
such  as  the  keeping  of  the  Sabbath  day,  or  paying  the 
tenth ;  and  then,  with  whatever  their  traditions  added  to 
them,  be  exceedingly  scrupulous  and  exact  in  those  par- 
ticulars, however  negligent  in  every  thing  else.  The  idea 
was  that  of  compensation.  It  was  imagined  that  by  a 
measure  of  strictness  not  required,  they  would  make  up 

*  James,  ii.  10. 


THE   NATURE   AND    CONDEMNATION    OF   SIN.  129 

for,  in  any  one  point,  the  neglect  of  what  was  required  in 
other  points.  This  singular  notion,  we  apprehend,  has  a 
wider  habitation  than  the  minds  of  the  Jewish  Phari- 
sees. It  is  a  form  of  self-righteous  delusion,  which, 
however  unreasonable,  has  been  the  hope  of  thousands 
who  have  enjoyed  the  light  of  the  Gospel.  What  else  is 
the  idea  practically  so  prevalent,  and  that  comforts  so 
many,  now-a-days,  that  if  you  do  well  in  one  line  of  duty, 
you  will  not  be  condemned  if  you  neglect  another;  if 
you  attend  to  one  table  of  the  law,  you  may  be  at  ease 
though  the  other  have  been  forgotten;  if  you  have  led  a 
moral  life  it  will  answer,  though  you  have  not  led  a  reli- 
gious life — good  works  towards  man  will  suffice,  though 
you  have  been  habitually  disobedient  towards  God.  It 
was  this  idea  of  compensation,  as  if  we  could  ever  compen- 
sate for  disobedience  to  God,  that  gave  rise  to  all  that 
system  of  will-worship,  the  divers  fastings  and  vain  repe- 
titions of  prayers,  and  minute  scrupulousness  in  certain 
self-imposed  outward  forms,  or  penances,  while  the  whole 
spirit  of  true  obedience  was  wanting,  on  which  the  Saviour 
so  often  and  so  solemnly  pronounced  those  words — "wo 
unto  you.  Scribes,  Pharisees,  Hypocrites"  Exactly  the 
same,  though  in  a  Christian  dress,  is  that  which  in  the 
Romish  Church,  under  the  traditions  of  Popery,  making 
equally  void  the  Gospel,  produces  corresponding  fruits 
among  nominal  Christians.  The  man  who  cannot  be 
persuaded  to  eat  meat  on  Friday,  can  easily  profane  the 
name  of  God  every  day  and  be  comforted.  Be  very 
exact  in  keeping  certain  days,  repeating  certain  prayers, 
and  doing  certain  penances,  and  visiting  certain  shrines, 
and  attending  mass,  and  confessing  to  a  priest,  and  all 

will  be  well. 
9 


130  SERMON   VI. 

Against  all  this,  whatever  shape  it  may  assume,  accord- 
ing as  it  may  appear  among  Jews,  or  Romanists,  or  Pro- 
testants, (for  the  human  heart  will  produce  it  in  some 
shape  among  all,)  stands  the  declaration  of  St.  James, 
"whosoever  shall  keep  the  whole  law  and  yet  offend  in  one 
point,  is  guilty  of  all."  The  meaning  is  not,  that  to 
violate  any  one  precept  of  the  law,  is  to  violate  every 
precept,  or  is  as  guilty  as  if  every  other  were  violated. 
Certainly  the  commission  of  one  sin  cannot  necessarily 
involve  the  commission,  or  the  guilt,  of  all  sins.  But  the 
law  of  God  is  one.  It  contains  various  precepts,  but  it  is 
one  law.  Sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law  in  its  oneness, 
its  integrity.  To  break  it  anywhere,  breaks  it  entirely; 
all  its  authority  is  resisted,  all  its  honor  is  injured,  all 
its  condemnation  is  incurred.  It  is  a  chain  of  many  links. 
One  link  broken,  the  chain  is  as  perfectly  broken  as  if 
many  links  were  broken.  One  sin  makes  you  as  truly  a 
violator  of  the  whole  law  of  God;  brings  you  as  really 
under  its  verdict  of  guilty,  forfeits  as  entirely  your  inno- 
cence or  righteousness  at  its  bar,  as  any  number  of  sins. 

But  is  there  anything  new  in  this  ?  Is  it  not  just  what 
you  are  all  familiar  with  under  the  laws  of  the  land  ?  Let 
us  suppose  a  covenant  or  contract  between  man  and  man. 
It  may  have  its  several  articles,  but  it  is  all  one  covenant. 
Now,  should  one  of  the  parties  keep  the  whole,  except 
that  he  fails  in  a  single  article,  will  not  the  law  decide 
that,  in  the  failure  of  that  one  article,  the  whole  covenant 
is  broken,  and  the  other  party  entirely  released,  and  the 
penalty,  whatever  it  be,  all  incurred  ?  And  if  the  failure 
be  in  two  or  more  articles,  instead  of  one,  you  know  that 
the  covenant  is  no  more  entirely,  though  it  may  be  much 


THE  NATURE  AND  CONDEMNATION  OF  SIN.      131 

more  flagrantly  broken.  And  you  well  know  that  before 
the  law  of  the  land,  it  would  avail  nothing  to  save  the 
party  in  default  from  the  penalty  or  forfeiture  resulting 
from  a  broken  covenant,  should  he  plead  that  he  had  ful- 
filled it  in  every  thing  but  one  single  article.  The  law  of 
the  land  would  consider  that  the  keeping  of  all  but  one 
is  no  justification  for  failure  in  that  one.  It  would  an- 
swer: the  covenant  is  all  broken;  you  have  forfeited  all 
that  you  were  to  get  by  it ;  your  claim  on  the  other  party 
is  all  lost;  he  has  a  perfect  right  to  exact  from  you  the 
whole  penalty;  justice  cannot  help  you ;  law  has  nothing 
for  you  but  its  condemnation.  The  clemency  of  the  other 
party  is  all  you  have  to  look  to. 

Now  that  represents  precisely  the  state  of  a  transgressor 
of  God's  law.  God  has  been  pleased  to  enter  into  cove- 
nant with  us.  He  might  have  said  simply  "Do  this"  wifch^ 
out  annexing  any  promise  of  eternal  life ;  and  then*  it 
would  not  have  been  a  covenant,  but  simply  a  law.  But 
he  has  been  pleased  to  say,  Do  this  and  live,  annexing  the 
promise  of  life  eternal  to  the  keeping  of  his  law.  And 
he  has  annexed  the  penalty;  that  is,  the  loss  of  life  eternal, 
to  every  violation  of  that  covenant.  "Cursed  is  he,  (in 
other  words,  condemned  is  he  to  the  penalty  of  the  law) 
who  continueth  not  in  all  things  written  in  the  book  of  the 
law  to  do  them."  You  observe,  the  condition'  of  the  cove- 
nant is  continuance  in  all  things  to  do  them ;  not  merely 
during  part  of  life,  but  all  of  life;  not  in  some  things, 
but  in  all  things.  Now,  you  are  a  transgressor  of  the  law. 
It  is  of  no  importance  at  present  to  ask  how  often,  or 
under  what  aggravating  circumstances,  you  have  trans- 
gressed. It  is  enough  that  you  have  transgressed.  The 


132  SERMON  VI. 

covenant  thus  is  all  broken.  God  is  perfectly  released 
from  his  promise  of  life.  You  have  forfeited  all  that  you 
were  to  gain  by  obedience.  He  can  exact  from  you  all 
the  penalty  of  a  law  entirely  broken.  It  will  avail  noth- 
ing in  point  of  law  and  justice  to  plead  that  you  have 
kept  the  covenant  in  other  particulars.  The  breach 
remains  in  that  one  particular,  and  cannot  be  healed.  To 
be  innocent,  or  righteous,  in  the  sight  of  the  law,  by  your 
own  obedience,  is  now  forever  impossible.  Add  another 
transgression  or  a  thousand — you  will  thereby  increase 
your  guilt  and  your  punishment ;  but  the  covenant  is  no- 
more  entirely,  though  it  is  certainly  more  flagrantly  viola- 
ted. All  this  we  showed  you  is  just  the  parallel  of  wluat 
takes  place  under  all  human  law.  And  thus  the  principle 
announced  by  St.  James,  is  a  general  principle  of  law? 
whether  human  or  divine :  "  Whosoever  shall  Jceep  the  ivhole 
law,  and  yet  offend  in  one  point,  he  is  guilty  of  all" 

4.  And  now  we  are  prepared  for  another  step.  It  is 
essentially  involved  in  the  great  but  perfectly  simple  and 
obvious  principles  of  law  and  obedience  of  which  we 
have  spoken,  that  the  condemnation  of  a  sinner  before 
God,  essentially  and  necessarily  takes  place  immediately 
upon  the  transgression  of  his  will.  In  other  words,  the 
sinner  is  "  condemned  already" 

One  of  the  most  common  misapprehensions,  and  one 
which  exercises  the  strongest  influence  in  keeping  men 
insensible  to  the  awfulness  of  their  state  before  God,  as 
sinners  impenitent  and  unpardoned,  is  an  idea,  directly 
the  contrary  of  what  I  have  thus  declared.  It  is  a  very 
common  thought,  that  the  condition  of  sinners  on  earth 
who  continue  impenitent,  is  neither  one  of  positive  wrath 


THE  NATURE  AND  CONDEMNATION  OF  SIN.       133 

or  peace;  not  of  condemnation;  assuredly  not  of  accep- 
tance ;  but  a  condition,  the  decision  upon  which  is  deferred 
to  a  day  of  trial  hereafter,  in  the  future  world.  Mean- 
while they  imagine  they  are  contributing  to  make  that  fu- 
ture decision  favorable,  or  unfavorable,  according  as,  by 
evil  deeds  or  good  deeds,  they  are  running  up  an  account  on 
one  side  or  the  other,  in  the  book  of  God's  remembrance. 
Now,  I  can  imagine  no  reason  why  this  thought  should 
be  entertained,  except  it  be  the  supposition  that  God, 
however  he  be  the  All-seeing  Witness  of  every  sin,  to 
whom  "the  darkness  and  the  light  are  both  alike,"  does 
not  so  notice  sin  as  soon  as  it  is  committed,  as  in  his  own 
mind  to  decide  upon  what  it  is  and  what  it  deserves.  Men 
have  a  vague  idea  of  the  day  of  judgment,  They  know 
that  in  human  affairs,  there  can  be  no  condemnation  till 
the  formal  trial,  because  till  then,  since  the  human  judge 
ascertains  transgression  only  by  examination  of  witnesses, 
the  truth  cannot  be  determined :  and  so  they  imagine  the 
day  of  judgment  is  to  ascertain  guilt;  to  enable  the  Judge 
of  all  the  earth  to  decide  upon  the  merits  of  each  case,  as 
if  God  were  not  himself  always  witness  and  always  judge, 
always  perfectly  knowing,  always  perfectly  measuring  and 
deciding  upon  every  transgression.  No,  brethren,  the 
day  of  God's  judgment  is  not  to  assist  the  knowledge  or 
counsels  of  him  who  knoweth  all  things.  It  is  not  to 
unveil  any  thing  in  us  that  is  not  now  all  marked  and  open 
to  him  who  searches  the  secrets  of  all  hearts.  It  is  not 
that  God  may  then/or^  a  decision  as  to  us,  which  he  had 
not  formed  before ;  but  to  declare,  and  vindicate,  and  exe- 
cute before  the  assembled  angels  of  heaven,  and  the 
assembled  generations  of  all  mankind,  the  condemnation 


134  SERMON  VI. 

or  the  justification  already  passed  upon  all  before  we  died. 
The  essential  judgment,  except  as  to  the  infliction  of  the 
penalty,  is  going  on  all  our  life-time.  We  are  at  each 
moment  perfectly  known  and  weighed  in  the  balance  of 
the  law  of  God.  "  He  that  planted  the  ear,  shall  he  not 
hear  ?  He  that  formed  the  eye,  shall  he  noc  see  ?  He 
that  teacheth  man  knowledge,  doth  not  he  know  ?  "  You 
see,  in  a  moment,  that  it  cannot  be  possible  but  that  as 
God  is  witness  to  every  sin,  and  the  law  is  simply  his  own 
will,  so  he  must  judge  every  sin  immediately  by  that  law, 
and  the  sinner  must  at  once  stand  before  him  instantly  as 
he  sins,  in  his  true  position,  as  a  convicted  transgressor, 
condemned  already.  Such  would  be  the  case  under  human 
laws,  were  it  not  for  the  great  imperfections  which  neces- 
sarily belong  to  their  administration  in  the  hands  of  men. 
But  what  saith  the  Lord  upon  this  point?  "  He  that  lelieveth 
on  the  Son  of  God  is  not  condemned"  No,  he  is  delivered 
from  condemnation,  because  he  has  taken  refuge  in  Christ. 
But  proceeds  the  verse:  "He  that  lelieveth  not  is  condemn- 
ed already"*  What  gives  these  declarations  a  special 
impressiveness  is,  that  they  come  from  Him  who  is  to  be 
the  Judge,  and  to  pronounce  the  sentence  of  the  last  day. 
It  is  upon  this  actual  condition  of  sinners  in  the  pres- 
ent life,  that  all  the  structure  of  the  Gospel  is  erected. 
It  brings  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth;  but  in  so 
doing  it  pronounces  all  of  us  lost  till  we  embrace  it.  Jesus, 
our  Saviour,  "  came  to  seek  and  save  that  which  was  lost" 
If  we  are  not  now  already  lost,  we  are  not  those  whom  he 
came  to  save.  He  came  "  to  preach  deliverance  to  the 
captive,  and  the  opening  of  the  prison  doors  to  them  that 

*Jolm  iii.  18. 


THE  NATURE  AND  CONDEMNATION  OF  SIN.      135 

are  bound."  If  any  of  you  are  not  already  condemned 
before  God  for  your  sins,  then  his  law  has  not  laid  hand 
upon  you ;  you  are  not  captives  under  its  arrest ;  you  are 
not  bound;  its  prison  doors  have  not  been  shut  upon  you. 
You  are  therefore  not  among  those  to  whom  the  mes- 
sage of  the  Saviour's  grace  is  addressed.  He  came  to  give 
salvation,  not  to  those  who  may  be  lost,  under  a  judgment 
not  yet  given,  but  who  are  lost  already;  to  give  deliverance, 
not  to  those  who  are  in  danger  of  condemnation,  but  to  those 
who  are  condemned  already.  Hence  it  is  written  :  "There 
is  now,  therefore,  no  condemnation  to  them  that  are  in 
Christ  Jesus."*  They  are  now,  in  this  present  life,  deliv- 
ered from  condemnation,  because  they  are  in  that  refuge  ; 
they  have  become  believers  in,  and  thus  partakers  of 
Christ  Jesus.  Of  course  it  follows,  that  to  all  who  are  not 
in  Christ  Jesus,  there  is  now  the  condemnation  of  God. 

And  here,  if  you  ask  me  what  then  is  the  difference 
in  regard  to  condemnation  between  your  state  in  the  pre- 
sent life  and  what  it  will  be  in  the  world  to  come,  in  case 
it  continues  as  it  now  is  unto  death,  I  see  but  one  answer, 
and  I  feel  that  it  is  an  awful  answer,  and  I  would  that  it 
were  deeply  felt  as  an  awful  thing  to  be  true  of  any  body. 
There  is  no  difference  but  in  one  particular.  The  sinner 
who  has  not  availed  himself  of  the  salvation  that  is  in 
Christ  Jesus, is  i&k  finally,  irreversibly,  condemned.  Your 
day  of  grace  and  long  suffering  is  not  ended  yet.  You 
have  still  an  accepted  time  and  a  day  of  salvation.  The 
condemnation  is  perfect,  but  the  prison  door  is  not  forever 
barred.  You  are  bound,  but  your  bonds  may  be  loosed. 
You  may  yet  be  persuaded  to  listen  to  Him  who  preaches 

*  Rom.  viii.  1 . 


136  SERMON  VI. 

deliverance  to  the  captive.  But  your  time  to  die  may 
come  before  your  repentance.  Then  the  door  is  fast  for- 
ever. Then  the  voice  of  a  Saviour's  grace  is  heard  no 
more.  Your  condemnation  abideth  without  end;  the 
same  precisely  that  abideth  now,  only  then  a  condemna- 
tion sealed  up  forever. 

5.  We  proceed  to  one  more  position,  which,  though 
it  has  been  included  in  what  has  been  already  said,  we 
wish  to  make  more  distinct  and  prominent.  It  is  this: 
A  'single  transgression  of  the  law  of  God  makes  you  liable, 
to  its  whole  penally.  "The  wages  of  sin  is  death."  The 
declaration  is  not,  that  death  is  the  wages  of  sins  of  a  cer- 
tain number,  but  of  sin — any  sin.  This  is  but  a  figura- 
tive form  of  the  original  declaration,  "  In  the  day  that 
thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die."  Adam  in- 
curred that  penalty  by  a  single  transgression.  And  again, 
another  form  of  the  same  thing:  " Cursed  is  every  one 
that  continueth  not  in  all  things  written  in  the  book  of 
the  law  to  do  them."  If  the  continuance  of  perfect  obe- 
dience be  not  unbroken,  if  it  be  not  in  every  hour  and 
moment,  if  it  be  not  in  all  things  required  by  the  will  of 
God,  the  law  is  transgressed,  and  the  wages  of  sin  are  due. 

It  is  one  thing  to  speak  of  penalty  being  equally  due 
to  one  sin  as  to  many,  and  a  very  different  thing  to  speak 
of  it  as  being  due  in  an  equal  degree  of  severity.  Death 
is  universally  the  wages  of  sin,  without  reference  to  this 
or  that  sin,  few  sins  or  many;  death  of  the  body  in  the 
loss  of  its  soul  till  the  resurrection,  death  of  the  soul  in 
the  loss  of  that  favor  of  God  which  is  life,  and  that  loving 
kindness  of  God  which  is  better  than  life — death  spiritual 
in  everlasting  banishment  from  God.  But  that  eternal 


THE  NATURE  AND  CONDEMNATION  OF  SIN.      137 

banishment  from  God,  and  loss  of  all  spiritual  life  and 
hope,  will  be  accompanied  with  more  or  less  of  the  posi- 
tive infliction  of  the  pains  of  hell,  according  as  you  have 
accumulated  sin  upon  sin ;  according  as  you  have  done 
so  in  the  midst  of  the  light  of  the  Gospel,  or  in  compara- 
tive darkness ;  according  as  your  privileges,  and  mercies, 
and  opportunities  have  abounded,  and  you  have  resisted 
convictions,  trifled  with  serious  impressions,  and  quenched 
the  influences  of  the  Spirit  of  God  that  would  have  per- 
suaded you  to  repentance. 

I  need  not  further  show  the  proof  of  our  present  posi- 
tion, that  a  single  transgression  of  the  law  of  God  makes 
you  liable  to  the  law's  penalty.  You  perfectly  well  know 
that  such  is  the  case  under  all  laws.  One  murder  incurs 
the  penalty  of  death  as  fully  as  twenty;  one  theft  as  fully 
as  a  hundred.  Who  ever  heard  of  the  law  delivering  a 
criminal  from  the  whole  penalty  of  murder,  on  the  ground 
that  he  had  committed  the  crime  but  once  ?  And  how 
strange  it  would  seem,  to  see  a  fellow  creature,  with  the 
blood  of  his  neighbor  on  his  hands,  and  the  fear  of  the 
law  before  him,  administering  consolation  to  his  trembling 
heart  by  saying,  "  I  never  took  life  before,  therefore  I 
cannot  be  condemned  to  die  for  this." 

But,  my  brethren,  is  not  this  precisely  the  sort  of  peace 
which  they  who  neglect  the  salvation  of  God  are  contin- 
ually ministering  to  their  souls  ?  That  they  have  very 
often  transgressed  the  divine  law,  they  freely  own.  But 
that  therefore  they  have  forfeited  all  title  to  God's  favor — 
lost  all  reason  to  hope  for  eternal  life  on  the  ground  of 
their  own  merits — incurred  a  positive  condemnation,  and 
are  now  abiding  under  it,  and  have  nothing  to  look  for 
but  the  wrath  of  God,  after  death,  unless  they  flee  to  a 


138  SERMON   VI. 

better   hope  and   righteousness  than   any  within  them- 
selves— they  cannot  admit.     And  why?     The  only  reason 
given  is  that,  though  sinners  indeed,  they  have  not  sinned 
to  this  or  that  extent.     We  beg  to  remind  them,  that  to 
what  extent  they  have  sinned  is  not  now  the  question. 
" Sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law"  whether  one  or  a 
thousand;  and  condemnation  necessarily  follows  upon  sin, 
whether  it  be  once  committed  or  a  thousand  times.     The 
law  of  God  and  the  law  of  man  are  in  principle  exactly 
alike   in  this  respect.     The  question  of  the   extent  to 
which  you  have  sinned  is  necessary  to  the  determination 
of  the  amount  of  your  guilt,  but  enters  in  no  wise  into 
the  question  of  the  fact  that  you  are  guilty.     Besides, 
the  amount  of  your  sins  is  a  subject  of  inquiry  to  which 
you  are  not  equal,  except  to  see  that  it  is  broader  than 
the  sea,  deeper  than  the  sea,  enough  to  make  you  hide 
your  face  in  the  dust,  and  seek  the  mercy  of  God  with  a 
broken  and  contrite  heart.     When  all  the  history  of  your 
whole   life  can  be  read  by  you,  all  the  movements  of 
thought,  all  the  working  of  affection,  and  desire,  and  mo- 
tive, all  moments,  all  things  done  within  as  well  as  without, 
all  things  left  undone  within  and  without — when  you  are 
competent  to  read  that  whole  history  in  all  its  connections, 
each  moment,  with  your  circumstances,  your  light,  your 
privileges,  your  opportunities,  all  those  things  which  will 
make  it  more  tolerable  for  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  in  the 
judgment  than  for  the  impenitent  of  this  day  and  this  land; 
yea,  when  you  are  competent  to  read  all  this  history  in 
such  comparison  with  the  law  of  God  that  you  shall  see  its 
sins  as  they  are  seen  by  him,  before  whose  holiness  even 
the  heavens  are  unclean,  then  you  may  attempt  to  justify 


THE  NATURE  AND  CONDEMNATION  OF  SIN.  139 

yourselves  by  measuring  the  extent  of  your  transgressions. 
Meanwhile,  it  is  very  easy  so  to  read  that  history  as  to 
see  that  you  have  sinned  enough  to  be  brought  in  guilty 
before  God,  and  therefore  under  condemnation  and  wrath, 
till  you  shall  be  found  in  Christ  Jesus,  rescued  in  that 
ark. 

And  now,  having  gone  over  the  ground  thus  finished,  I 
am  very  conscious  that  I  have  been  bestowing  much  at- 
tention upon  principles  not  only  exceeding  plain,  but  very 
familiarly  known  and  recognized  among  all  descriptions  of 
men;  and  the  question  occurs,  how  is  it  that  principles 
so  easily  understood  and  acknowledged  in  ordinary  mat- 
ters of  human  jurisprudence,  should  need  so  much  expli- 
cation when  applied  to  divine?  For  example,  when 
we  speak  of  the  single  transgression  of  a  human  law 
being  enough  to  incur  its  condemnation,  we  speak  what 
every  body  knows.  None  think  of  charging  the  law  with 
undue  severity.  It  must  be  so,  in  the  very  nature  of 
law.  But  as  soon  as  the  same  is  asserted  of  transgres- 
sion of  the  law  of  God,  immediately  there  is  a  revolt.  It 
cannot  be.  It  is  incredible  that  the  Judge  of  all  men 
should  be  so  severe.  And  this,  too,  will  arise  in  the 
breasts  of  men  who,  as  judges  in  the  land,  are  in  the 
practice  of  administering  judgment  on  precisely  the  same 
principle.  How  is  this  to  be  accounted  for  ? 

I  apprehend  the  answer  is  not  difficult.  Men  realize 
that  they  have  a  deep  interest  in  the  principles  of  crimi- 
nal law  between  man  and  man,  and  they  therefore  think 
of  them  enough  to  understand  them,  at  least  in  the  ele- 
ments of  which  we  have  spoken.  The  subject  is  earthly; 
but  the  whole  matter  of  the  law  of  God  is  unearthly — it 


140  SERMON   VI. 

does  not  force  itself  upon  daily  thought.  It  is  easy  not  to 
realize  that  you  have  any  thing  of  great  moment  depend- 
ing on  it,  and  therefore  its  interest,  its  nature,  and  its  appli- 
cation, are  not  considered,  except  in  the  most  dreamy  way. 

Again,  in  human  affairs,  men  are  compelled  to  feel  the 
absolute  necessity  of  a  wise  and  strictly  administered 
government  of  law.  But  it  is  precisely  here  that  they 
allow  themselves,  for  want  of  consideration,  to  realize 
nothing  as  to  the  relations  between  them  and  God. 
Nothing  do  they  practically  believe  in  so  little,  whatever 
speculatively  they  may  acknowledge,  as  God's  moral  law 
reaching  to  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart, 
strictly  administered  on  the1  essential  principles  of  all  law, 
and  having  its  final  assize  and  sentence,  when  "God  will 
bring  all  things  into  judgment,  with  every  secret  thing." 

Again,  there  is  nothing  to  warp  our  views  when  consider- 
ing the  proper  process  of  things  under  human  tribunals. 
We  are  not  the  accused.  We  feel  that  our  interests  are 
identified  with  the  strict  execution  of  the  law.  The  true 
principles  seem  self-evident,  because  our  eye  is  single. 
But  before  God  we  are  all  the  guilty  ones.  Impenitent 
men  feel  that  all  their  hope  out  of  Christ  is  in  trusting 
that  God's  law  will  prove  to  be  some  such  law,  in  its  prin- 
ciples and  decisions,  as  no  law  can  be.  Thus  their  eye  is 
perverted,  and  when  they  think  at  all  on  the  subject,  it  is 
to  deceive  themselves  with  expectations  which  a  candid 
consideration  would  teach  them  can  end  only  in  the  bit- 
terest disappointment. 

But  again,  in  human  jurisprudence  we  easily  distin- 
guish between  the  judge,  to  condemn  according  to  law, 
and  the  ruler,  to  pardon  according  to  dictates  of  mercy. 


THE  NATURE  AND  CONDEMNATION  OF  SIN.  141 

We  see  those  offices  in  different  hands,  and  well  compre- 
hend that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  one  to  sentence  to  death  the 
very  man  to  whom  the  other  may  grant  a  pardon.  But 
in  God  those  offices  are  united.  He  only  can  bind  and 
loose,  condemn  and  forgive;  and  because  thus  united  in 
God,  those  two  offices  become  confounded  in  men's 
thoughts,  till  that  of  the  Judge,  administering  the  law,  is 
lost  sight  of,  and  nothing  remains  upon  the  judgment  seat 
but  a  Being  of  boundless  compassion,  to  pardon  the  trans- 
gressor. They  know  perfectly  well  that  a  wise  human 
ruler  will  exercise  his  power  to  pardon  only  when  the 
great  interests  and  sanctions  of  the  law  are  not  thereby 
impaired.  But  they  do  not  ask  whether  the  law  of  God 
must  not  be  treated  with  equal  respect.  Thus  they  care- 
lessly take  refuge  in  the  certainty  that  God  is  plenteous  in 
mercy,  not  inquiring  whether  there  be  not  some  one  only 
way  of  administering  his  mercy,  some  certain  conditions 
on  which  alone,  out  of  regard  to  the  guilt  of  sin  and  the 
honor  of  his  law,  his  mercy  shall  be  dispensed,  which  they 
have  utterly  neglected. 

There  is  an  injunction  of  St.  Paul  of  the  greatest  con- 
sequence to  all  safe  conclusions,  as  to  what  you  may 
expect  under  the  law  of  God.  "Behold  (saith  he)  the 
goodness  and  severity  of  God."*  The  Apostle  had  in  his 
mind  the  severity  of  God  in  casting  off  and  punishing 
the  Jews  for  their  unbelief  and  rejection  of  the  gospel, 
and  his  goodness  in  admitting  the  Gentiles  to  its  bless- 
ings. We  have  now  in  view,  in  the  just  application  of 
the  Apostle's  words,  the  severity  of  God  in  holding  as 
guilty,  and  in  condemning  to  eternal  misery,  all  trans- 

*Rorn.  xi.  22. 


142  SERMON   VI. 

gressors  of  his  law ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  his  goodness 
in  mercifully  providing,  through  the  atoning  sacrifice  of 
his  own  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  such  plenteous  redemption 
that  every  penitent  sinner,  coming  unto  Jesus,  shall  have 
everlasting  life.  We  must  behold  the  character  and  ways 
of  God  in  both  these  aspects,  or  we  cannot  know  him. 
The  goodness  is  no  more  his  character,  no  more  essential 
or  honorable  to  his  nature,  than  the  severity.  The  red, 
as  well  as  the  violet  of  the  rainbow,  is  essential  to  the 
pure  white  light  of  the  solar  ray.  God,  as  Judge,  must 
be  "a  consuming  fire"  to  the  wicked  and  impenitent,  for 
the  same  reason  that,  as  a  merciful  Father,  he  is  eternal 
life  to  the  penitent  sinner  coming  unto  him  through  the 
atonement  of  Christ.  The  terrible  retribution  that  he 
brought  on  the  Jews,  for  their  unbelief,  and  with  which  he 
still  visits  them,  is  a  chapter  in  the  history  of  his  gov- 
ernment, to  teach  us  its  character,  as  much  as  any  book 
of  his  goodness  to  the  children  of  men.  What  the  Apos- 
tle calls  "the  terrors  of  the  Lord,"  are  as  essential  to  our 
right  knowledge  of  him  as  his  mercies — the  sentence  of 
the  law  condemning  the  sinner,  as  the  grace  of  the  gospel 
justifying  the  believer  in  Jesus — Sinai  as  much  as  Calvary. 
They  are  parts  of  his  ways,  neither  of  which  can  be  right- 
ly known  as  setting  forth  his  dealings  with  man,  without 
the  other.  The  same  indeed  must  we  say  of  all  govern- 
ments. Wherever  a  wise  law  is  wisely  executed,  there  is 
both  a  goodness  and  a  severity  to  be  beheld,  if  we  would 
appreciate  its  character.  Severity,  in  this  application, 
means  not  harness,  but  strictness.  The  goodness  of  a 
ruler  to  pardon  the  offender  is  weakness,  if  there  be  not 
also  a  strictness  to  punish  iniquity.  The  judge  of  your 


THE  NATURE  AND  CONDEMNATION  OF  SIN.      143 

criminal  court  shows  a  righteous  severity,  when  he  so  ad- 
ministers the  law  that  crime  shall  be  sure  of  his  sentence 
in  the  strict  execution  of  the  law.  The  Judge  of  all  the 
earth  is  righteously  severe,  when  he  holds  every  trans- 
gressor of  his  law  strictly  subject  to  its  penalty,  and  will 
admit  to  the  enjoyment  of  his  saving  grace  none  but  those 
who  seek  it  in  the  way  of  his  own  appointment — the  ato- 
ning sacrifice  and  all  prevailing  mediation  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  I  must  behold  that  severity,  that  strict- 
ness, that  certainty  that  the  law  of  God  will  not  clear  the 
guilty,  that  if  I  appear  at  that  bar  in  no  righteonsness  but 
my  own  I  must  be  condemned  and  lost,  or  I  cannot  take 
a  right  view  of  the  wonderful  grace  and  mercy  of  God,  in 
providing  eternal  redemption  for  us  by  the  sacrifice  of  his 
only  begotten  Son;  nor  can  I  see  my  absolute  need  of  my 
fleeing  for  refuge  to  the  hope  that  is  there  set  before  me. 
"By  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin."  The  only  way  to 
know  ourselves  as  sinners,  is  to  measure  ourselves  by  the 
will  of  God.  The  only  way  to  know  what  we  have  to  fear 
as  sinners,  is  to  behold  the  severity  of  God  in  enforcing 
the  penalty  of  the  violation  of  his  will,  as  exhibited  in 
his  word,  and  in  all  his  dealings  with  mankind.  The 
only  way  to  get  a  right  sense  of  our  need  of  the  ark  of 
salvation  provided  in  Christ  Jesus  for  all  that  will  flee  to 
it,  is  to  behold  and  see  in  what  hopeless  ruin  the  flood  of 
the  wrath  of  God,  which  is  coming  upon  all  unrighteous- 
ness of  men,  must  overwhelm  us,  unless  we  are  found  in 
that  refuge.  Thus,  by  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  the 
gospel,  as  it  is  the  essential  lesson  whereby  we  learn  the 
need  of  the  gospel.  And  thus,  in  the  words  of  St.  Paul, 
it  is  "our  schoolmaster  to  bring  us  to  Christ,  that  we  may 


144  SERMON   VI. 

be  justified  by  faith" — a  schoolmaster  that  teaches  a 
very  humiliating  lesson  indeed,  and  teaches  it  very  stern- 
ly and  inflexibly,  and  by  many  inflictions  of  the  rod  upon 
our  consciences  and  wills,  which  are  so  slow  to  learn  in 
such  a  school,  but  whose  lesson,  nevertheless,  is  the  begin- 
ning of  wisdom,  the  voice  of  one  that  prepareth  the  way 
of  the  Lord. 

And  now  what,  my  brethren,  has  been  our  object  in  all 
this  discussion  of  the  law  of  God?  Let  me  answer  the 
question  plainly.  It  has  been  that  we  might,  by  the  bless- 
ing of  the  Holy  Spirit,  accomplish  one  most  needful,  most 
precious,  most  kind,  but  most  painful  work  in  the  minds 
of  a  large  class  of  this  congregation.  But,  to  make  myself 
better  understood.  You,  my  hearer,  let  me  suppose,  have 
not  sought  the  Lord.  You  have  no  reason  to  believe  that 
if  death  should  overtake  you  as  you  now  are,  it  would 
find  you  in  Christ,  having  fled  thither  from  condem- 
nation, trusting  there,  and  sheltered  there,  as  under  the 
curtains  of  the  Lord's  sanctuary.  Now  the  object  of  all 
this  discourse  has  been  one  which  I  know  that  no  mere 
reasoning  of  mine,  without  the  sealing  power  of  God's 
Spirit,  can  effect:  to  lead  you  to  feel  that  you  have  no  hope 
of  salvation.  It  is  to  take  away  from  you  all  thought  that 
in  such  a  state  as  yours  there  is  any  such  thing  as  salva- 
tion for  you ;  it  is  to  lead  you  up  to  the  bar  of  God, 
noiv,  before  the  final  trial  comes,  and  induce  you  to  judge 
your  case  in  the  presence  of  his  law,  and  see  what  must 
be  the  certain  issue,  if,  hereafter,  when  the  books  shall  be 
opened,  you  come  before  it  in  your  present  state.  I 
could  not  attempt  a  kinder  office.  To  make  you  hopeless, 
that  you  may  seek  that  only  hope  which  will  not  make 


THE  NATURE  AND  CONDEMNATION  OF  SIN.  145 

you  ashamed,  is  the  greatest  kindness.     Then  where  are 
you  now?     Under  the  Gospel?     No.     Under  its  revela- 
tions, its  invitations,  its  responsibilities,  you  certainly  are. 
It  is  proposed  to  you.     But  have  you  accepted  it?     No. 
You  have  lived  to  this  day  in  the  rejection  of  all  its  offers 
of  salvation.     You  have  been  constantly  called  to  its  em- 
brace, and  have  constantly  refused;  so   that  under  the 
Gospel,  as  in  any  sense  a  hope  or  a  protection,  you  are  not. 
Then  where  are  you?     Of  course  under  the   law;    the 
strict,  unmitigated,  inflexible,  holy,  heart-searching,  heart- 
requiring  law  of  God,  every  transgression  of  which  is  sin 
and  condemnation.     To  that  law  exclusively  must  you 
look  for  justification.     If  it  have  nothing  against  you,  you 
have  hope.     But  mark,  your  case  all  hangs  on  that  one 
condition.     You  are  shut  up  unto  the  law  for  hope.     Light 
can  come  upon  your  prospect  for  eternity  but  from  that 
one  quarter.     If  you  have  not  transgressed  the  law,  it 
will  justify  you;  if  you  have,  it  will  condemn  you.     "  The 
goodness  of  God"  in  pardoning  sinners,  you  cannot  behold 
for  any  comfort  or  hope,  because  that  is  revealed  only  to 
those  who  seek  it  by  embracing  the  mediation  of  Christ. 
It  is  only  "the  severity  of  God,"as  a  just  and  holy  Judge, 
most  strictly  enforcing  and  maintaining  his  law,  that  you 
are  permitted  to  behold  from  your  present  position.     Now 
what  is  your  verdict  upon  your  case,  arraigned  for  your 
own  decision  at  that  bar?     What  does  your  whole  life  tes- 
tify?    What  witnesses  stand  up  against  you,  from  all 
your  thoughts,  and  affections,  and  words,  and  deeds?     Be- 
hold that  great  cloud  of  witnesses  coming  into  court  to 
appear  against  you,  brought  from  all  the  mercies,  and  priv- 
ileges, and  talents,  which  you  have  not  improved  in  God's 
10 


146  SERMON  VI. 

service.     See  how  sternly  Conscience  demands  to  be  heard, 
and  testifies  that  you  have  always  loved  the  world,  to  the 
exclusion  of  its  Maker,  and  sought  your  happiness  in  its 
service,  to  the  exclusion  of  the   service  of  God.     But 
alas !  what  witness  is  this  that  now  comes  in,  claiming  that 
none  else  need  be  heard.     Meek,  and  gentle,  and  loving, 
but  decided  and  fixed.     It  is  the  Gospel.     It  comes  with 
all  its  offers  of  peace,  all  its  invitations  and  promises,  all 
its  love  and  grace.     It  holds  up  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ 
which  was  shed  for  you,  and  cries,  "These  all  hath  he  re- 
jected.    I  called  continually,  but  he  refused.     I  stretched 
out  my  hands,  but  he  did  not  regard.     He  despised  all 
my  counsel,  and  would  none  of  my  reproof."     Oh!  poor 
sinner,  what  answer  can  you  make  to  such  testimony? 
What  can  you  say  to  escape  the  certain  condemnation  of 
God?     Whither  will  you  flee?     No  where  can  you  flee,  if 
all  this  shall  take  place  with  you  after  this  present  day  of 
grace  is  over.     But  I  tell  you  where  now  you  can  flee. 
That  rejected  blood  of  Christ  still  cries,  come.     The  door 
of  access  to  the  mercy  of  God,  through  Christ,  is  still 
open,  and  over  it  is  written  still,  come.     There  is  bound- 
less mercy  in  God  for  you,  if  only  in  that  way,  Jesus 
Christ,  you  will  seek  it.     And  will  you  heap  sin  upon  sin, 
judgment  upon  judgment,  by  refusing  to  come?     God  for- 
bid !     God,  in  mercy  to  your  soul,  persuade  you  to  come, 
and  be  found  holding  on  to  the  cross  of  Jesus,  pleading 
his  blood,  abiding  in  him  as  the  ark  of  God,  in  that  day 
when  you  shall  be  called,  with  all  of  us,  to  appear  at  his 
judgment!     Amen. 


.  vii. 

THE   GREAT   FEAST   AND   THE   VAIN   EXCUSE. 


LUKE  xiv.   16,  17,  18. 

"  Then  said  he  unto  them,  a  certain  man  made  a  great  supper  and  bade 
many,  and  sent  his  servants,  at  supper  time,  to  say  to  them  that  were 
bidden,  Come,  for  all  things  are  now  ready.  And  they  all,  with  one 
consent,  began  to  make  excuse." 

ONE  of  our  Lord's  objects  in  delivering  this  parable,  was 
to  illustrate,  by  way  of  prediction,  the  reception  which 
would  be  given  in  the  world  to  those  offers  of  salvation 
with  which  his  Apostles  were  soon  to  be  sent  forth.  The 
same  is  our  object,  in  the  present  selection  of  this  parable, 
or  so  much  of  it  as  the  text  contains.  We  wish  to  draw 
your  attention  to  the  treatment  which  the  gospel  invitation 
receives  from  the  great  mass  of  those  to  whom  it  is  sent, 
and  to  the  aspect  of  such  a  reception  in  the  sight  of  God. 
66 A  certain  man  (we  read)  made  a  great  feast"  That 
certain  man,  is  represented  in  the  corresponding  parable, 
given  by  St.  Matthew,*  as  a  King ;  and  the  great  feast  is 
there  described  as  a  marriage  feast ;  and  the  occasion  of 
it,  as  the  marriage  of  the  King's  son.  These  several  par- 
ticulars are  given  by  the  Lord,  with  the  evident  design  of 
enhancing  the  dignity  and  excellence  of  the  festival,, 
and  consequently  the  honor  and  favor  shown  by  the 
King  to  the  "many"  whom  he  bade  to  it;  and  their  duty. 

*Matt.  xxii.  2. 


148  SERMON  VII. 

as  a   matter  of  thankfulness,  as  well  as  of  obedience,  to 
embrace  the  invitation. 

Now  you  can  have  no  doubt  that,  under  that  figure  of 
a  great  feast  thus  provided,  is  intended  to  be  represented 
all  that  eternal  life  and  glory  in  the  presence,  and  favor, 
and  communion  of  God  and  the  Lamb,  to  which  we  are  all 
so  earnestly  called — a  feast  of  blessedness  which  God  only 
could  make;  and  to   which  his  sovereign  mercy  alone 
could  have  bade  the  needy,  and  perishing,  and  unworthy,  of 
all  nations,  to  come.     It  is  a  marriage-feast.     The  bride- 
groom is  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God.     So  intimate  is 
the  union  which  takes  place  between  him  and  all  those 
who  embrace  the  invitations  of  his  grace,  and  come  unto 
him,  and  receive  out  of  his  fullness,  and  live  by  him — so 
affectionate,  and  tender,  and  inseparable  is  that  union,  that 
it  is  likened,  in  the  parable,  to  a  marriage  union.     Be- 
lievers in  Jesus  are  espoused  unto  their  Lord.     The  cove- 
nant between  them,  is  a  marriage  covenant.     By  virtue 
thereof,  they  become,  for  all  the  purposes  of  their  sancti- 
fieation,  and  justification,  and  life,  in  and  through  him, 
"one  flesh,"  "  bone  of  his  bone  and  flesh  of  his  flesh" — so 
that  their  debts,  and  wants,  and  infirmities,  are  his  to  bear 
for  them ;  and  his  righteousness  and  Spirit  are  theirs  to 
possess  in  him.    Thus,  the  whole  company  of  true  believers 
in  Jesus,  as  composing  his  living  Church,  are  called  in 
Scripture  his  Bride;  and  on  that  glorious  day,  when  all 
believers  shall  have  been  made  ready  to  be  received  unto 
Christ,  in  his  kingdom  on  high,  having  been  perfectly 
cleansed  from  all  sin,  and  made,  in  body  and  spirit,  per- 
fectly conformed  unto  himself,  then  shall  take  place  "  the 
marriage   of  the  Lamb."      The   Lord   will   receive   his 


THE    GREAT    FEAST   AND   THE   VAIN   EXCUSE.  149 

perfected  people  unto  himself;  that  where  he  is,  there 
they  may  be  also.  As  a  glorious  Church,  without  spot  or 
wrinkle,  they  will  all  be  "  arrayed  (for  a  marriage  garment) 
in  fine  linen,  clean  and  white;  for  the  fine  linen  is  the 
righteousness  of  saints."  All  that  Christ  hath  obtained, 
by  the  purchase  of  his  obedience  and  sacrifice,  they  will 
be  made  to  share,  as  their  marriage  dower.  They  will  sit 
with  him  on  his  throne.  They  will  enter  into  the  joy  of 
their  Lord.  His  mind  will  be  perfectly  in  them ;  his  glory 
all  upon  them.  He,  the  heir  of  the  kingdom,  in  his  own 
right;  they,  inheriting  all  things,  as  joint-heirs  with,  and 
in  virtue  of  their  union  unto  him.  "When  Christ,  who  is 
our  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall  we  also  appear  with  him 
in  glory." 

The  maker  of  the  feast  is  represented  as  sending  out 
his  servants,  "  to  say  to  them  that  were  bidden,  Come,  for  all 
things  are  ready" 

The  point  of  time  in  the  gospel  history,  was  when  the 
Apostles  received  their  full  commission  to  go  and  preach 
the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  All  was  ready  when  our 
Lord,  having  offered  up  himself  for  the  sins  of  the  world, 
having  risen  from  the  dead  and  ascended  into  heaven  and 
sat  down  upon  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high,  as 
the  Prophet,  Priest  and  King  of  his  Church,  a  Prince  and 
Saviour,  rich  in  grace  and  power,  had  given  the  promised 
evidence  of  his  readiness  for  his  whole  work  in  the  pouring 
out  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  That "  bap- 
tism of  the  Holy  Ghost "  testified  by  the  gift  of  tongues  and 
the  cloven  flames  of  fire,  was  the  sign  from  heaven  that 
all  things  were  ready  on  the  side  of  God;  that  the  atone- 
ment was  accepted,  the  ever-living  intercession  of  our 


150  SERMON  VII. 

High  Priest  begun,  the  new  and  living  way  prepared, 
Christ  ready  to  be  made  unto  all  that  should  come  unto 
God,  by  him,  "wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctification  and 
redemption."  All  was  ready.  Nothing  remained  to  be 
done  to  make  the  salvation  of  God  most  perfect,  most  ap- 
plicable to  all  conditions  of  men,  most  free  to  the  unwor- 
thiest,  most  accessible  to  the  neediest  and  most  feeble. 
The  wisdom,  the  love,  the  mercy,  the  holiness,  the  riches 
of  the  grace  of  God, '  had  finished  the  preparation.  All 
that  was  now  to  be  done  was  for  sinners  to  come  and  take 
of  the  feast  and  live  forever.  Then  began  the  servants 
of  the  King,  the  Apostles  of  Christ,  to  preach  the  Gospel 
to  all  nations,  to  publish  on  every  side,  a  full  and  free  sal- 
vation, "without  money  and  without  price,"  to  all  believ- 
ers in  Jesus,  saying  to  all  the  needy  and  perishing:  "Come 
— come  to  Jesus.  He  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  all 
that  come  unto  God  by  him."  Continually  has  that  call 
been  repeated  since  the  Apostles  finished  their  course. 
How  often  have  you  all  heard  that  sound  ?  How  repeat- 
edly, how  urgently,  how  importunately,  have  you  all  been 
entreated,  by  the  messengers  of  God,  to  come  and  partake 
in  what  his  grace  has  made  ready  in  Christ ! 

This  brings  us  to  the  last  words  of  our  text  and  those 
on  which  we  shall  now  chiefly  speak  :  "  And  they  ally  ivith 
one  consent,  legan  to  make  excuse."  Such  was  their  answer 
to  the  King's  invitation  to  the  marriage  festival  of  his  son. 
In  the  parable  as  given  by  St.  Matthew,  it  is  said,  "-they 
ivould  not  come"*  This  is  certainly  the  honest  aspect  of 
the  case.  It  was  not  because  of  any  impediments  or  dif- 
ficulties that  they  came  not,  but  simply  that  they  were 

*Matt.  xxii.3. 


THE  GREAT  FEAST  AND  THE  VAIN  EXCUSE.  151 

unwilling — their  hearts  were  not  right.  But  in  St.  Luke 
that  unwillingness  is  politely  disguised  by  those  who  would 
not,  under  an  exterior  intended  to  be  considered  as  respect- 
ful to  the  King  whose  honors  and  riches  were  refused. 
They  made  excuse:  "I pray  thee  have  me  excused."  In 
St.  Matthew,  we  read  that  "the  remnant"  that  is,  we  must 
understand,  a  certain  part  of  those  who  were  bidden,  and 
who  were  unwilling,  but  not  respectful  enough  even  to 
attempt  an  excuse,  or  wise  enough  to  desire  one,  proceed- 
ed to  such  lengths  that  they  took  the  servants  of  the  King 
and  "  entreated  them  spitefully  and  sleiv  them."  Their  aver- 
sion, singular  as  it  was,  to  becoming  the  guests  of  the  King, 
on  an  occasion  so  distinguished,  was  too  strong  to  be  veil- 
ed. It  sought  no  concealment;  but  at  once  declared  its 
real  spirit,  its  decided  enmity,  in  the  persecution  and 
death  of  those  who  brought  the  invitation. 

Such  precisely  is  the  state  of  things  under  the  publica- 
tion of  that  message  of  mercy  and  grace  with  which  the 
ministry  of  the  gospel  is  charged.  Which  of  the  first 
heralds  was  not  spitefully  entreated  by  those  to  whom  they 
went  in  the  name  of  the  Great  King?  Hardly  had  they 
opened  their  message  before  Stephen  was  stoned  to  death, 
and  James,  the  brother  of  John,  was  slain  with  the  sword, 
and  Peter  was  shut  up  in  prison,  to  be  delivered  to  the 
rage  of  the  people.  The  world  has  been  ever  since  essen- 
tially the  same  in  its  spirit  towards  the  Gospel.  Some 
are  so  offended  at  it,  so  kindled  into  positive  persecution 
by  the  urgency  of  its  love  and  the  terms  of  repentance 
and  holiness  on  which  its  salvation  is  offered,  that  they 
cannot  patiently  hear  its  voice,  but  treat  it  as  an  enemy, 
casting  it  from  them — and  sometimes  even  in  these  days, 


152  SERMON   VII. 

they  lay  hands  of  violence  on  the  messengers,  put  them 
in   loathsome    dungeons    and   to  a  cruel   death;    while 
there   is   often  a  spirit    manifested   by  some,    of  such 
bitter  hatred  and  opposition,  that  it  requires  no  special 
sagacity  to  see  that,  so  far  as  the  ready  mind  is  concerned, 
there  are  not  wanting  even  in  this  our  land,  the  materials 
and  the  agents  by  which  the  fires  of  deadly  persecution 
might  be  speedily  kindled  and  the  messengers  of  grace 
would  be  spitefully  entreated  and  killed. 
.  But  many  of  those  to  whom  the  Gospel  message  comes, 
are  represented  as  making  excuse.     They  have  no  idea  of 
rejecting  it.     They  suppose  they  commit  no  such  griev- 
ous sin.      They  desire   to  be  considered  as  treating  it 
with  great  respect.     They  think  it  a  great  mercy  that  such 
salvation  has  been  provided.     That  the  Gospel  is  not  only 
true,  but  most  important,  and  necessary;  that  death  can- 
not be  met  in  peace  without  its  hopes,  they  freely  own. 
That,  sometime  before  they  shall  be  called  to  face  that 
great  terror  of  the  sinner,  they  will  have  put  on  that  only 
armor,  they  earnestly  hope.     Nothing  Would  fill  them  with 
more  dismay,  than  to  be  assured  that  their  day  of  grace 
will  have  expired  before  they  will  have  embraced  the  Gos- 
pel.    Every  anticipation  of  death-bed  thoughts  and  anxie- 
ties is  associated  in  their  minds  with  expectations  of  re- 
penting, and  praying,  and  endeavoring  at  last  to  become 
partakers  of  Christ. 

But  the  invitation  and  calling  of  God  is,  "  Come,  for  all 
things  are  ready"  It  means,  come  now,  because  all  things 
are  ready  now.  But  there  lies  the  difficulty — "  Come  by 
and  by ;  all  things  will  be  ready  j  ust  when  it  shall  suit 
your  convenience  to  come" — that  would  be  the  acceptable 
message  to  them.  But  God's  set  time  is  now.  To-day  is 


THE  GREAT  FEAST  AND  THE  VAIN  EXCUSE.  153 

the  day  of  salvation.  As  soon  as  God  is  ready  to  receive 
sinners,  is  the  time  for  sinners  to  go  to  him.  But  alas! 
his  time  is  not  theirs.  All  things  on  their  part  are  not 
ready.  They  are  not  ready  for  God,  however  he  may  be 
ready  for  them.  The  world  also  has  its  invitation  abroad, 
and  proclaims  its  feast,  and  calls  the  many,  and  blazons 
its  attractions,  and  they  cannot  excuse  themselves  there. 
They  think  they  will  avail  themselves  of  both — but  of 
each  according  to  their  own  convenience.  The  world's 
festivcd  first,  and  for  that  their  days  of  vigor  and  health, 
their  prime  of  life,  when  they  can  best  enjoy  and  best 
make  return.  Then,  the  invitation  of  God,  when  infirmity 
comes  on,  and  life  is  getting  weary,  and  death  is  near. 
So  that  when  the  message  of  the  great  God  and  King  is 
heard,  saying,  "Come,  I  have  prepared  my  feast  of  grace; 
the  lamb  for  the  burnt-offering  has  been  slain;  the  free 
and  perfect  salvation,  purchased  by  the  sacrifice  of  my 
beloved  Son  is  ready ;  come  ye !  come  ye !  for  why  will  ye 
die  ?"  their  answer  to  the  messenger,  in  the  secret  lan- 
guage of  the  heart  is,  "  I  pray  thee  have  me  excused.  My 
convenient  season  for  such  things  has  not  yet  come.  Let 
the  feast  be  kept.  Let  the  table  wait.  God  will  surely 
be  patient  with  me.  He  '  desire th  not  the  death  of  a  sin- 
ner.' I  expect  some  day  to  come.  I  have  no  thought 
of  dying  without  the  consolations  of  religion;  but  not  now. 
God  will  surely  excuse  me  in  this  deliberate  preference  of 
my  own  will  to  his  I" 

Meanwhile,  you  do  not  see  these  persons  keeping  away 
from  the  constant  repetition  and  urging  of  that  same  invi- 
tation. They  attend  where  it  is  preached.  They  perhaps 
approve  of  no  ministry  that  does  not  exhibit  it  continually. 


154  SERMON    VII. 

All  this  while,  it  enters  not  into  their  thoughts  that  in 
the  sight  of  God  they  are  guilty  of  so  great  a  sin,  every 
moment,  as  an  actual  rejection  of  his  grace  and  denial  of 
Christ.  On  the  contrary,  they  draw  a  broad  line  of  sep- 
aration, and  that  too,  entirely  in  their  own  favor,  between 
the  case  of  those  who  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
Gospel  and  expect  never  to  care  for  it,  because  they  deny 
its  truth;  and  their  own  case,  who,  not  only  believing  its 
truth  and  preciousness,  but  knowing  they  cannot  be  saved 
without  it,  so  abuse  their  light,  and  dishonor  their  con- 
victions, and  practically  deny  what  they  know,  as  to  ex- 
cuse themselves  from  all  present  participation  in  its  duties 
and  promises. 

We  come  now  to  the  sort  of  excuses  usually  made. 
In  the  parable  they  are  classified.  Our  Lord  has  there 
presented  three  forms  of  them,  as  examples  under  which 
all  may  be  arranged.  One  man  is  represented  as  answer- 
ing the  servant  of  the  King :  "  /  have  bought  a  piece  of 
ground  and  I  must  needs  go  and  see  it"  Another,  " / 
have  bought  five  yoke  of  oxen,  and  I  go  to  prove  them"  An- 
other, "I have  married  a  ivife  and  therefore  I  cannot  corned 
Each  says,  "I  pray  thee  have  me  excused."  And  each 
seems  to  think  he  has  given  a  sufficient  reason  and  has 
treated  the  royal  condescension  and  kindness  quite  respect- 
fully. Now  you  perceive,  that,  while  these  excuses  are 
very  different  in  form,  they  are  in  substance  alike.  They 
indicate  persons  of  different  classes,  but  agreeing  in  one 
main  feature  of  character.  They  are  all  drawn  from  things 
foreign  to  the  feast.  The  men  have  something  to  do  at 
home  and  therefore  they  cannot  go  abroad;  or  they  have 
Something  that  interests  them  so  much  at  home  that  they 


THE  GREAT  FEAST  AND   THE  VAIN  EXCUSE.  155 

have  no  wish  to  go  abroad,  though  it  were  even  to  such 
a  festival.     They  profess  no  objection  to  what  they  are 
called   to   enjoy.     It  is   no  doubt  very  good,  and  they 
are  no  doubt,  very  much  favored  in  being  called  to  it; 
but  they  have  matters  of  their  own  to  see  to,  which  they 
are  not  willing  to  lay  aside.     Now  what  does  this  suggest 
in  regard  to  the  excuses  usually  made,  in  men's  hearts, 
for  not  embracing  the  Gospel  ?     They  are  not  founded  on 
any  professed  objections  arising  out  of  the  blessings  of- 
fered.    The  Lord  is  gracious;  his  grace  is  unsearchable. 
Eternal  life  in  his  kingdom  is  worth  all  worlds.     This  they 
deny  not.     Their  excuses  are  various  in  form,  but  they  all 
unite  in  being  drawn  from  things  of  this  life,  from  inter- 
ests of  the  world.     The  love  of  this  present  world,  in  some 
of  its  aspects,  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  all ;  such  an 
immersion  of  mind  and  heart  in  the  cares  and  interests  of 
this  life  that  the  mercies  of  God  for  another,  however  pro- 
fessedly reverenced,  are  not  heartily  valued;  however  hon- 
ored as  true,  are  neglected  as  comparatively  unimportant. 
Let  us  take  the  illustrations  afforded  in  the  parable. 
One  man  has  bought  his  piece  of  ground,  and  must  needs  go 
and  see  it.     He  represents  the  man  of  business,  who  is 
prospered,  so  that  he  is  "adding  field  to  field."     The 
blessing  of  God  is  on  his  labor  and  toil ;  and  by  that 
very  blessing,  he  is  made  to  feel  as  if  he  could  do  without 
God.     The  more  prosperous,  the  more  must  he  be  ex- 
cused for  not  being  religious.     The  more  blessed  with 
things  of  this  life,  so  much  the  more  is  his  heart  over- 
charged with  them ;  so  much  the  less  room  there  is  for 
thoughts  of  God's  goodness,  and  of  his  own  debt  of  gratitude 
and  love ;  so  much  the  less  he  feels  the  need  of  those  infin- 


156  SERMON    VII. 

itely  richer  blessings  to  which  God  calls  him  in  the  gospel; 
and  so  much  the  more  urgently  prays,  "  Have  me  excused."" 

The  next  illustration  is  that  of  a  man  who  has  bought 
five  yoke  of  oxen  and  thinks  he  must  needs  go  to  prove  them. 
He  represents  the  diligent  laboring  man,  pursuing  some 
honest  and  appropriate  vocation,  in  a  lower  range  of  world- 
ly gradation  than  the  former.  He  is  dependent,  his 
family  are  dependent,  on  his  daily  industry.  He  must  be 
excused  attendance  at  the  King's  table,  because  he  cannot 
neglect  the  supply  of  his  own  household ;  as  if  to  honor 
the  King's  grace  were  not  the  very  way  to  serve  his  own 
necessities.  His  doctrine  is,  that  men  of  diligence  in 
business,  laboring  for  the  daily  bread  of  their  families, 
must  be  excused  embracing  eternal  life,  excused  from  seek- 
ing the  everlasting  friendship  and  favor  of  God,  from  whom 
alone  their  strength  to  labor,  their  ability  to  reap  where  they 
sow,  and  to  enjoy  when  they  reap,  is  derived;  as  if  to 
serve  God  were  not  the  shortest  way  to  serve  themselves ; 
and  to  be  allowed  so  much  as  to  gather  up  the  crumbs 
that  fall  from  his  table,  were  not  a  surer  way  to  provide 
for  their  households  than  to  gain  all  the  world,  and  lose 
his  blessing  with  it. 

The  condemnation  here  is  not  that  such  persons  are  so 
diligent  in  business,  but  that  their  diligence  is  confined  to 
the  least  part  of  their  business ;  that  they  are  laboring 
for  the  meat  which  perisheth,  instead  of  that  which  endu- 
reth  unto  everlasting  life;  that  they  are  forgetting  eter- 
nity in  the  zeal  for  a  day ;  neglecting  immortal  souls,  for 
dying  bodies  ;  setting  God  aside,  as  if  to  please  him  were 
no  part  of  their  proper  daily  business,  imagining  that  it  is 
possible,  in  any  real  sense,  to  provide  for  themselves  in 


THE  GREAT  FEAST  AND  THE  VAIN  EXCUSE.  157 

this  life,  while  God's  will  and  blessing  are  neglected.  The 
condemnation  is,  that  they  allow  the  concerns  of  the  field, 
or  the  shop,  or  the  counting  room,  or  the  office,  so  to  fill 
their  hearts  and  days,  that  when  God  comes  to  them  in 
behalf  of  their  souls,  they  have  no  leisure  to  hear  him,  no 
room  to  admit  him.  He  must  wait  till  they  shall  find  a 
more  convenient  season ;  and  when,  after  such  treatment, 
he  condescends  still  to  plead  with  them,  and  to  say,  "  I 
ask  not  that  you  be  less  diligent  in  your  secular  business, 
but  only  that,  instead  of  setting  your  hearts  upon  it,  you 
give  me  your  hearts,  that  I  may  giveyow  my  saving  bless- 
ing"— alas!  the  answer  that  arises,  like  the  cold  mist 
from  the  ground  which  God's  rain  has  just  watered,  is, 
"  Our  hearts  are  too  much  occupied  already ;  we  have  no 
affections  at  liberty  ;  we  are  so  taken  up  with  things  that 
are  seen  and  are  temporal,  that  we  have  no  time,  no  heart, 
for  unseen  and  eternal:"  and  what  is  still  more  strange, 
they  answer  thus,  as  if  it  were  something  like  a  valid  and 
justifying  excuse. 

There  is  a  third  class  and  condition  represented  in  the 
parable:  that  of  the  man  of  domestic  contentment  and 
blessings,  who  is  so  much  occupied  and  satisfied  with 
them  that  he  feels  no  need  of  any  that  are  higher,  and 
better,  and  more  enduring.  His  home  is  his  temple; 
there  he  worships ;  but  God  is  not  there.  All  of  home 
is  represented  in  the  parable,  in  the  person  of  that  one 
being,  on  whom  all  its  happiness  so  mainly  depends — the 
wife.  "  I  have  married  a  wife,  and  therefore  I  cannot  come." 
The  case  is  presented  as  a  type  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  dearest  earthly  blessings  God  ever  gives,  are  made  to 
become  our  strongest  masters,  our  most  ensnaring  idols, 


158  SERMON   VII. 

to  keep  our  hearts  from  loving  him.  A  sweet  home, 
such  as  a  good  wife,  and  a  faithful  mother,  and  dear  chil- 
dren make,  many  that  hear  the  Gospel  have  received  of 
God;  and  this  precious  blessing  keeps  their  hearts  from 
God  ;  this,  when  they  are  called  to  seek  a  better  heritage, 
an  everlasting,  holy  home,  where  they  and  theirs  may  all 
be  at  rest  and  full  of  joy,  when  all  earthly  things  shall 
have  passed  away ;  where  they  may  see  God,  face  to  face,  in 
the  endless  festival  of  a  Saviour's  love,  oh !  then,  it  is  this 
very  home  on  earth  that  holds  them  fast,  and  keeps  them 
away.  They  are  too  well  satisfied  with  their  present  rest, 
to  set  their  hearts  on  that  which  "remaineth  for  the  peo- 
ple of  God."  Let  us  pause  a  moment  over  such  a  case : 
The  domestic  man,  to  whom  no  attractions  on  earth  are 
comparable  with  those  of  his  own  fireside;  who,  instead 
of  seeking  enjoyment  anywhere  else  in  preference,  returns 
from  wherever  else  his  duty  may  take  him,  to  rest,  and 
soothe,  and  comfort,  and  satisfy  his  heart  at  home ;  who 
comes  from  his  daily  work  and  meets  the  welcome  of  his 
wife,  and  the  fond  embraces  of  his  children,  and  delights 
his  heart  among  them,  and  feels  how  theirs  beat,  pulse  by 
pulse,  with  his,  and  knows  that  his  cup  runneth  over — 
we  tremble  for  that  man,  that  sweet  home,  that  whole 
domestic  circle,  when  we  see  in  him  who  heads  it  and 
should  lead  it  all  to  God,  a  heart  so  satisfied  therein  that 
God  is  forgotten,  and  from  that  temple  of  his  own  making 
and  blessing  is  excluded ;  that  he  who  gave  those  blessings 
that  they  might  win  that  parent's  heart  is  not  sought, 
because  he  is  not  wanted.  Not  wanted !  Yes,  they  feel 
no  need  of  him.  They  are  "rich  and  in  need  of  nothing." 
Oh !  it  is  fearful  to  look  into  a  household  of  so  many 


THE  GREAT  FEAST  AND  THE  VAIN  EXCUSE.  159 

blessings  and  see  that  what  really  prevents  the  father  and 
mother  from  feeling  any  need  of  God's  grace,  is  the  very 
fullness  with  which  his  providence  has  enriched  them;  that 
what  he  sent  as  winning  arguments  to  persuade  them  to 
give  him  their  hearts,  are  turned  into  the  very  chains  that 
bind  their  hearts  away  from  him.  Will  God  allow  this? 
Will  his  compassion  for  that  family  permit  it  to  go  on 
unwarned,  unvisited  ?  Will  he  not  come  down  in  mercy, 
but  in  chastisement,  and  take  away  one  idol  and  another, 
till  this  setting  up  of  their  idols  in  their  hearts  shall  cease, 
and  they  will  feel  their  need  of  him,  and  turn  unto  him 
as  their  only  sufficient  rest?  0,  remember  those  words: 
"I,  the  Lord  thy  God,  am  a  jealous  God."  Give  him  not 
such  reason  to  hang  your  house  in  mourning !  How  often, 
in  mercy  to  men's  souls,  does  God  visit  them  for  these 
things,  sending  sorrow  throughout  their  household,  turn- 
ing their  cup  of  blessing  to  bitterness,  and  causing  their 
very  rest  to  become  their  weariness,  in  order  to  make 
them  know  how  poor,  how  empty,  how  desolate  is  every 
thing,  where  God  is  not  their  portion,  and  rest,  and  refuge. 
And  now,  having  looked  at  the  three  classes  of  those 
who  are  represented  as  making  excuse,  it  occurs  to  us  as 
something  exceedingly  remarkable,  that  sinners,  soon  to  die, 
soon  to  stand  before  God  in  judgment,  should,  in  the  least, 
desire  to  be  excused  from  embracing  his  salvation — won- 
derful beyond  degree !  What!  the  naked  excusing  them- 
selves from  being  clothed?  the  lepers  from  being  cleansed? 
the  hungry  from  being  fed  ?  the  condemned  from  being 
pardoned?  the  perishing  from  being  saved?  Yes,  as 
if  God  were  to  be  the  only  gainer;  as  if  you  were 
called  to  make  a  great  sacrifice  and  endure  a  great  trial,  to 


160  SERMON    VII. 

come  to  God  and  receive  his  peace,  and  obtain  a  blessed 
home  in  his  kingdom,  and  have  the  sting  of  death  and  the 
terrors  of  the  judgment  day  all  removed !  How  can  it  be 
accounted  for?  When  you  read  in  the  parable,  that  in 
answer  to  the  King's  invitation  to  his  great  feast,  they 
that  were  called,  "all  began  with  one  accord,  to  make 
excuse ; "  and  when  one  pleads  one  pretext,  and  the  next 
some  other  pretext,  all  perfectly  futile,  you  feel  that 
there  is  something  very  extraordinary  in  the  matter, 
something  which  the  reasons  given  do  not  explain.  Who 
ever  heard  of  the  subjects  of  a  gracious  Prince  earnestly 
praying  to  be  let  off  from  accepting  his  invitation  to  his 
banqueting  hall,  and  to  the  marriage  festival  of  his  son  ? 
Who  ever  heard  of  their  pleading  such  hindrances  as  are 
given  in  the  parable  ?  There  is  a  want  of  nature  in  this 
whole  matter.  It  was  never  met  with  in  real  life.  All 
this  is  designed.  It  is  intended  to  make  it  seem  so  much 
the  more  remarkable,  so  much  the  more  in  need  of  ex- 
planation, that  men  should  treat  as  they  do  the  invitation 
of  the  Gospel,  where  the  King  is  our  God,  our  Judge,  our 
Creator,  our  Father ;  and  the  feast  is  life  eternal  in  Christ 
Jesus ;  and  the  called,  who  make  excuse  and  will  not  come, 
are  poor,  perishing  sinners,  needing  the  mercy  and  grace 
of  God  above  all  things,  and  certain  to  be  lost  forever, 
except  they  embrace  the  very  invitation  which  they 
refuse. 

Think  of  some  naked,  starving  pauper  perishing  on  the 
highway!  A  benevolent  prince,  as  he  passes,  is  arrested 
by  his  misery,  and  bids  him  arise,  and  go  with  him  to  his 
sumptuous  home,  where  bread  and  raiment  shall  be  sure 
to  him  all  his  life.  You  hear  from  lips  almost  ready  to 


THE   GREAT   FEAST   AND  THE   VAIN  EXCUSE.  161 

be  sealed  in  death  the  strange  answer:  "I  pray  to  be  ex- 
cused. I  cannot  make  the  sacrifice."  Who  would  not 
say,  The  man  has  lost  his  senses;  much  misery  has  made 
him  mad? 

Enter  the  cell  of  a  criminal  under  sentence  of  death,  wait- 
ing the  summons  to  the  scaffold.  The  prison-door  opens. 
Is  it  the  messenger  of  the  law  come  to  say,  that  the 
time  has  arrived?  No,  it  is  the  Lord  of  the  country, 
his  countenance  beaming  with  benevolence.  He  comes, 
to  say,  "A  ransom  is  found — thou  art  redeemed  from 
death.  Arise,  and  let  thy  chains  be  loosed,  and  come 
forth  into  peace  and  life."  You  expect  the  prisoner  will 
leap  for  joy  and  embrace  the  knees  of  him  who  brings 
such  tidings.  But  see !  he  is  troubled  and  silent !  Is  he 
deaf?  Is  he  crazed?  Has  he  misunderstood?  He  is 
actually  troubled  by  the  tidings.  He  is  anxiously  search- 
ing his  mind  for  an  answer  by  which,  without  being 
disrespectful,  to  put  off  the  man  who  has  intruded  upon 
his  dungeon,  with  such  an  errand.  At  length  you 
hear  him,  "Pray,  sir,  consider  my  circumstances.  This 
dungeon  is  my  home.  Here,  in  these  bonds,  is  my  rest. 
I  am  attached  to  my  prospects  and  cannot  sacrifice 
them.  Plans  for  the  better  adorning  of  my  prison  are 
not  yet  complete ;  how  can  I  leave  them  !  By  and  by 
it  will  be  more  convenient.  I  appreciate  your  kind- 
ness, but  pray  let  me  be  excused ! "  Poor  wretch,  who 
would  not  think  his  prison  had  made  him  mad? 

Change  the  scene !  A  man  is  under  sentence  of  death 
at  the  bar  of  God.  The  condemnation  of  his  sins  reaches 
to  everlasting  woe.  He  knows  not  but  the  next  hour  he 
may  take  up  his  abode  forever  in  hell.  The  Lord  of  life,, 
the  Prince  of  peace,  the  God  of  glory,  in  his  wonderful 
11 


162  SERMON   VII. 

grace,  proclaims,  "I  have  found  a  ransom — a  precious  price 
has  bought  thee.  Everlasting  life  and  bliss  await  thee. 
Forsake  thy  sins;  flee  unto  Jesus,  put  thy  trust  in 
him;  follow  him — and  all  is  well  forever."  By  his  word 
preached,  by  his  Spirit  striving,  God  reiterates  the  invita- 
tion, entreating,  exhorting,  not  willing  that  any  immortal 
soul  should  perish  within  reach  of  such  blessedness.  The 
man  excuses  himself!  In  his  heart  he  begs  to  be  permit- 
ted to  decline!  Is  there  a  spectacle  on  which  angels 
look  with  such  amazement,  as  that  perishing  sinner  thus 
turning  away  from  the  salvation  of  God?  How  his  miser- 
able pleas  must  seem  to  them  in  their  deep  reverence,  as 
they  behold  at  one  view  the  majesty  of  the  great  God,  the 
heaven  of  heavens,  the  hell  of  the  lost,  and  that  poor,  im- 
mortal soul  at  the  brink  of  its  bottomless  gulf!  He  has 
so  much  to  do  for  this  life,  that  he  cannot  attend  to  the 
life  eternal.  He  has  some  scheme  of  worldly  business  on 
hand,  which  he  cannot  interrupt  to  think  of  Christ.  He 
has  some  pleasures  of  this  world  to  enjoy,  which  he  cannot 
sacrifice  for  salvation,  and  heaven,  and  God.  The  man  be- 
seeches God  to  let  him  go  on;  for  such  is  the  real  language 
of  his  heart.  He  beseeches  God  not  to  disturb  him  in  his 
course.  "I pray  thee  have  me  excused."  He  is  willing 
to  attend  Church;  to  believe  in  Christianity;  to  give  his 
mite  when  called  on  for  good  works — and  he  expects, 
some  time  or  other,  to  give  his  heart  to  God,  but  he  is  not 
willing  to  go  any  further  now.  He  wishes  to  be  allowed 
to  remain  contented  with  his  condition,  till  it  shall  be  con- 
venient to  change.  So  that  to  have  the  light  of  truth 
flash  straight  in  his  face;  to  have  the  warnings  of  God 
thundering  at  his  ear;  to  be  convinced  of  his  folly  and 


THE   GREAT   FEAST   AND   THE    VAIN    EXCUSE.  163 

sin  when  he  is  not  ready  to  renounce  them ;  to  be  made 
to  see  that  his  house  is  in  flames  before  he  is  willing  to 
leave  it,  would  too  much  trouble  him.  He  therefore  ear- 
nestly desires  that  all  this  may  stand  aside,  till  he  shall 
find  it  convenient  to  give  it  audience.  But  what  is  all 
this  but  the  voice  of  God,  the  mercy,  the  pity,  the  earliest 
love  of  God,  seeking  the  salvation  of  that  soul  ?  And 
what  is  his  strong  desire  to  keep  all  this  at  a  distance  yet, 
but  an  earnest  beseeching  of  God  to  let  him  alone,  and 
allow  him  to  take  his  rest  in  the  world,  and  not  trouble 
him  with  so  much  light  and  conviction,  so  clear  a  sight  of 
his  sins,  so  deep  a  sense  of  the  worth  of  his  soul,  so  strong 
an  impression  of  eternity,  that  he  cannot  be  at  ease,  un- 
less he  repent?  Oh!  it  is  an  awful  prayer  that  a  sinner 
thus  makes,  to  be  let  alone  in  his  condemnation,  in  his 
bondage,  in  his  nearness  to  everlasting  woe — a  prayer 
which  comes  often  much  more  sincerely,  much  more  from 
the  heart,  than  many  a  better  prayer  from  many  a  nom- 
inal Christian.  And  a  prayer  it  is  that  God  answers. 
Men  that  make  it  are  sometimes  taken  at  their  word. 
They  would  not  that  God  should  bless  them  now  with  his 
Holy  Spirit,  and  he  takes  his  Spirit  away,  not  only  for  this 
time,  but  for  all  time,  and  they  are  left  undisturbed  indeed, 
to  get  all  they  can  in  the  world,  and  make  the  best  of  a 
life,  and  a  death,  and  an  eternity,  without  God. 

It  is  written  of  the  prodigal  son,  that  before  he  became 
sensible  of  his  folly  and  sin,  "he  came  to  himself"  Then 
he  said,  "/  will  arise  and  go  to  my  father"  Let  the  man 
who  thus  neglects  or  delays  the  salvation  of  his  soul,  but 
once  come  to  himself — see  where  he  is,  what  he  is,  what  all 
is  worth  in  comparison  with  the  peace  of  God,  and  he  too 


164  SERMON  VII. 

will  instantly  arise  and  go,  and  will  not  tarry  till  lie  gets 
to  the  feet  of  his  Father,  and  pours  out  a  full  heart  of  re- 
pentance and  supplication  before  him. 

And  now  let  us  put  the  question,  how  can  all  that  we 
have  described  be  accounted  for — this  strong  and  general 
disposition  to  be  excused  from  accepting  the  invitation  of 
God;  the  folly  and  emptiness  of  the  excuses  given;  the 
ingenuity  with  which  they  are  perseveringly  clothed  in  new 
forms  as  circumstances  vary;  and  the  tenacity  with  which 
they  are  held  and  used  for  the  quieting  of  conscience  under 
troublesome  alarms  of  the  truth,  no  matter  how  often  ex- 
posed in  all  their  vanity.  It  would  seem  as  if  to  the  people 
so  invited  and  so  excusing  themselves,  there  were  something 
positively  odious  in  God's  feast  of  grace;  something  ex- 
ceedingly opposed  to  the  ruling  dispositions  of  their  hearts 
in  the  Gospel  of  Jesus.  Can  this  be  true  ?  Is  there  such 
strong  opposition  between  the  sinner's  heart  and  the  sin- 
ner's God,  the  will  of  man  and  the  following  of  Christ? 
I  pray  you,  consider.  What  else  offers  the  least  expla- 
nation of  the  phenomenon  we  have  been  looking  at  ?  Let 
me  beg  that  they  whose  manner  of  receiving  the  Gospel 
has  been  described,  would  consider  where  the  difficulty 
does  really  lie  ?  Is  its  heart  truly  expressed  in  the  rea- 
sons you  commonly  give  for  not  seeking  after  God?  You 
have  seen  and  felt  the  emptiness  of  those  reasons  again 
and  again,  but  the  difficulty  was  unchanged.  Ah !  there 
is  a  truth  here  which  must  be  learned,  however  hard  to 
be  admitted.  St.  Paul  goes  to  the  root  of  the  matter: 
"  The  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God"  The  disposi- 
tions of  the  unrenewed  mind  are  averse  to  his  holy  will 
and  service.  Nothing  less  humiliating  explains  the  case. 


THE   GREAT   FEAST    AND   THE   VAIN   EXCUSE.  165 

No  duty  presents  such  claims,  such  motives ;  none  meets 
such  general  and  strong  reluctance.  No  interest  is  pretend- 
ed to  be  comparable  with  this  in  importance;  none  meets 
such  impatience  under  its  importunity,  or  such  desire  to 
be  delivered  from  its  counsels.  Ah!  the  heart  is  not 
right.  The  resistance  is  there.  The  excuses  are  but 
soft  pretences.  It  is  not  the  cares  or  the  pleasures  of 
this  life  that  keep  the  sinner  from  the  grace  of  God. 
The  power  is  not  in  them.  They  work  by  a  power  in  the 
sinner's  heart.  His  heart  is  so  sinful,  so  alienated  from 
God,  so  averse  to  his  holy  service,  so  dead  to  all  the  in- 
ducements of  his  grace,  so  alive  to  sin  and  the  world,  that 
change  of  heart,  a  new  heart,  to  be  born  again,  is  the  only 
remedy.  Oh !  yes — and  as  soon  as  that  change  of  heart 
does  take  place,  by  the  grace  of  God,  in  any  worldly 
minded  man,  how  immediately  do  all  those  reasons  he  was 
wont  to  give  for  not  embracing  the  Gospel,  vanish  as  va- 
por! How  do  they  then  seem  as  so  many  strong  evi- 
dences that  the  natural  heart  is  "deceitful  above  all 
things,  and  desperately  wicked !"  How  plainly  does  he  now 
see  that  the  one  simple  cause  of  all  the  difficulty  hitherto 
experienced  in  the  efforts  of  the  truth  to  bring  him  to  God, 
was  the  desperate,  yet  ingeniously  masked,  resistance  of 
his  heart,  fighting  against  God,  and  continually  throwing 
itself  into  one  cover  after  another,  to  conceal  its  real  char- 
acter. How  wonderful  then  appears  the  long-suffering  of 
God,  in  having  so  long  borne  with  him,  while  thus  reject- 
ing his  grace  ! 

And  now,  let  us  see  how  all  this  appears  in  the  sight  of 
God.  In  the  parable  as  given  by  St.  Luke,  the  treatment 
of  the  invitation  is  given  as  it  was  expressed  by  those  in- 


166  SERMON   VII. 

vited:  They  made  excuse.  But  in  the  parable  as  given 
by  St.  Matthew,  the  treatment  is  described  as  it  appeared 
to  the  Maker  of  the  feast.  "  They  made  light  of  it,  and 
went  their  way,  one  to  his  farm,  another  to  his  merchan- 
dise." 

It  is  not  meant  that  they  considered  themselves  as 
making  light  of  the  King's  invitation ;  nor  that  they  did 
not  intend  to  excuse  themselves  as  respectfully  as  pos- 
sible; but  that,  however  they  may  have  intended  to  ap- 
pear, the  King  interpreted  their  conduct  as  nothing  less 
than  making  light  of  all  the  honor  and  enjoyment  to  which 
he  had  condescended  to  bid  them.  Certainly;  for  who 
would  not  think  that  to  esteem  the  privilege  of  partaking 
in  the  King's  festival  as  less  interesting  than  to  go  to  one's 
farm  or  merchandise,  is  to  make  light  of  it  indeed? 

Such  then  is  the  interpretation  which  the  Lord  God 
assigns  to  all  this  making  of  excuse,  when  he,  the  King 
whose  laws  we  have  broken,  whose  condemnation  we  de- 
serve, instead  of  sending  us  away  under  his  endless  wrath, 
invites  us  to  partake  in  the  riches  of  his  saving  grace.  Under 
whatever  form  you  decline,  whatever  reason  you  give,  he 
considers  you  as  making  light  of  his  mercy,  and  compas- 
sion, and  love.  You  do  not  intend  to  be  so  understood. 
You  wish,  in  all  your  ways,  to  be  very  respectful  to  the 
Gospel,  and  to  be  considered  as  having  a  very  high  regard 
for  what  it  offers.  Even  in  the  manner  of  declining  its 
invitation  you  suppose  you  are  rendering  it  a  respectful 
tribute;  for  instead  of  denying  its  claims,  you  confess  them, 
and  the  infinite  importance  of  its  consolations,  and  you 
express  the  hope  that  you  will  one  day  accept  them ;  only 
you  are  not  ready  yet;  you  set  them  aside  for  the  present. 


THE   GKEAT   FEAST   AND   THE   VAIN  EXCUSE.  167 

Be  not  deceived !  God  sees  beneath  all  that  veil,  how 
ever  it  may  blind  your  eyes.  In  his  view,  you  make  light 
of  all  that  he  has  done  for  you  and  all  that  he  offers  you 
in  Christ.  Is  it  not  true  ?  How  can  you  make  light  of 
any  thing,  but  by  so  treating  it,  as  to  show  that  you  lightly 
estimate  it,  that  you  account  it  as  of  little  value.  I  speak 
of  that  estimate  which  the  life,  not  the  creed,  or  the  sen- 
timent, or  the  confession  of  the  lips,  expresses. 

Well,  then,  here  is  a  salvation  which  cost  the  deep 
humiliation,  the  awful  agonies  and  death  of  God's  beloved 
Son.  Angels  desire  to  look  into  it  as  the  greatest  wonder 
of  love  and  grace.  God,  by  his  word  and  ministry,  sets 
it  before  you,  and  entreats  you  to  make  it  your  own. 
Now,  suppose  Satan,  in  endeavoring  to  persuade  you  to 
neglect  it,  should  offer  the  whole  world  as  his  price  where- 
with to  persuade  you,  and  that  considering  the  immensity 
of  the  bribe,  you  should  consent.  Surely  you  would  make 
light  of  the  grace  of  God ;  "  for  what  is  a  man  profited, 
if  he  gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?  "  What 
an  indignity  to  the  grace  of  God,  to  think  this  world  a 
recompense  for  the  neglect  of  his  salvation ! 

But  far  more  inexcusable  is  yo'ur  case.  It  is  no  such 
vast  consideration  to  which  you  have  yielded.  You  have 
weighed  the  peace  of  God  against  a  matter  of  ordinary 
worldly  business,  or  pleasure,  or  personal  gratification,  or 
palpable  sinfulness.  You  have  allowed  such  things,  prac- 
tically to  outweigh  the  precious  things  of  the  Gospel, 
the  dying  love  of  Christ,  the  mercies  of  God,  the  glory 
of  his  kingdom  !  Thus  have  you  grievously  dishonored 
his  great  salvation.  In  your  practical  estimate,  you  have 
weighed  in  the  balance,  the  emptiness  of  a  short  and 


168  SERMON   VII. 

worldly  life  on  earth,  spent  in  constant  peril  of  hell,  against 
eternal  blessedness  in  the  peace  and  presence  of  God; 
and  the  latter  you  have  decided  to  be  the  least  precious, 
the  least  entitled  to  your  heart's  devotion.  You  have 
acted,  year  after  year,  on  that  estimate,  and  in  so  doing, 
have  incurred  the  more  guilt,  because  it  has  been  directly 
opposed  to  the  estimate,  which  in  your  understanding  you 
were  obliged  to  make,  and  in  your  professed  opinions, 
avowed.  What  if  a  man  should  stand  on  the  shore  of  the 
ocean,  and  profess  to  measure  its  waters  in  the  hollow  of 
his  hand?  Would  he  not  make  light  of  it?  But  have 
you  not  offered  such  indignity  to  the  mercy  of  God,  in 
Christ  Jesus?  0,  yes  !  in  all  the  reasons  you  plead  for 
not  coming  to  him,  in  all  your  excuses,  you  make  light  of 
that  boundless  breadth  and  depth  of  grace.  What  could 
not  be  purchased  but  by  the  sacrifice  of  God's  only  be- 
gotten Son  on  the  cross,  cannot  be  thus  treated  without 
the  most  grievous  guilt. 

"All  that  a  man  hath  will  he  give  for  his  life" — pro- 
perty, labor,  intense  protracted  suffering — nothing  seems 
to  a  man  too  high  a  price  to  pay  for  his  life.  We  never 
make  light  of  that.  How  would  it  sound  to  hear  one 
say,  "I  have  so  much  to  do  that  I  cannot  give  any  time 
to  save  my  life.  I  am  so  much  attached  to  the  world, 
that  I  can  make  no  sacrifice  of  it,  to  save  rny  life !"  Men 
have  a  more  respectful  sense  of  the  worth  of  this  life, 
which,  after  all,  is  but  a  vapor,  than  to  speak  in  that  way. 
But  when  the  consideration  is  life  eternal,  a  question  of 
heaven  or  hell;  when  it  is  the  wrath  of  God  that  is 
to  be  escaped — then  almost  any  sacrifice  is  too  costly ; 
men  are  busied  about  this  or  that  worldly  matter,  and  can- 


THE   GREAT   FEAST   AND   THE   VAIN   EXCUSE.  169 

not  see  to  it,  and  they  must  be  excused;  and  they  are 
thought  quite  reasonable.  The  Spirit  of  God  must  wait 
their  convenience.  They  will  be  ready  by  and  by  to 
attend  to  him,  when  the  world  can  be  enjoyed  no  longer. 
They  will  give  ear  upon  a  death-bed,  when  heart  and  flesh 
are  failing.  Yes!  those  miserable  leavings  of  life  they 
will  give  to  God !  And  is  not  this  making  light  of  his 
grace  ? 

But  the  guilt  and  wonder  of  it  are  the  greater,  because 
you  profess  to  believe  the  scriptures  and  the  infinite  im- 
portance of  what  they  reveal.  That  an  infidel  who 
despises  the  gospel  as  a  fable,  and  makes  a  mock  of  hell 
as  a  dream,  that  he  should  prefer  any  bauble  to  a  Chris- 
tian hope,  is  no  marvel;  but  that  they  who  have  no 
doubt  of  the  dread  events  of  the  judgment  day,  and 
know  that  out  of  Christ  is  no  salvation,  should  do  so — 
that  is  the  wonder. 

But  there  is  nothing  to  wonder  at  when  we  read  in  the 
parable,  the  impressive  sequel;  "/Sb  that  servant  came  and 
told  his  Lord  these  things.  Then  the  King,  being  angry, 
answered :  I  say  unto  you  that  none  of  those  men  that  were 
bidden,  shall  taste  of  my  supper" 

My  dear  friends,  let  that  declaration  alarm  you.  The 
invitation  may  cease,  the  door  may  be  shut,  much  sooner 
than  you  expect.  What  if  it  should  turn  out  with  you, 
as  with  millions,  who  lived,  and  excused  themselves,  and 
hoped  for  better  things  by  and  by,  just  as  you  are  doing, 
and  who  are  now  without  hope  forever — that  before  your  ex- 
cuses are  ended,  your  day  of  grace  shall  be  ended;  your  op- 
portunity, your  privileges,  God's  forbearance,  the  precious 
invitations  of  the  Gospel  to  you,  all  ended ;  and  God  shall 


170  SERMON   VII. 

say :  "  Their  prayer  shall  be  answered — long  enough  have 
I  called  and  they  refused.  I  ivill  excuse  them.  Never 
shall  they  come.  Never  shall  they  hear  another  call. 
The  seal  is  set  on  their  condition  forever."  Then  you 
die.  I  go  to  your  funeral — a  sad  funeral,  indeed — stand- 
ing beside  your  coffin,  and  looking  upon  your  sealed  lips 
and  eyes,  and  thinking  of  the  end  of  all  things  that  has 
come  upon  your  immortal  soul,  I  say  to  myself,  where  is 
he  now  ?  how  seems  to  him  now  the  worth  of  salvation, 
the  preciousness  of  a  hope  in  Christ?  how  looks  this  world 
to  him  now  since  eternity  has  begun  ?  how  seem  now  the 
excuses  he  was  wont  to  give  for  not  embracing  the  invita- 
tion of  the  Gospel  ?  Alas  !  what  light  that  outer  dark- 
ness has  thrown  on  all  things !  what  delusions  it  has  un- 
masked !  what  realities  it  has  revealed !  Oh  !  that  lost 
soul,  what  would  it  now  give  to  hear  again  that  invitation, 
"  Come,  for  all  things  are  ready ! "  and  what  anguish 
will  it  add  to  his  eternal  woe,  to  think  how  continually 
that  call  was  once  heard  and  pressed  on  his  acceptance, 
and  how  light  he  made  of  it,  till  the  opportunity  was 
passed.  Oh!  he  will  not  make  light  of  the  grace  of  God 
in  that  outer  darkness,  when  he  shall  see  them  coming 
from  the  east  and  west,  from  the  north  and  south — the 
least  privileged,  the  men  of  the  fewest  opportunities ;  and 
he  himself  cast  out.  Oh !  may  we  never  know  the 
thoughts  of  a  lost  soul,  looking  back  upon  its  day  of 
grace  and  its  treatment  of  the  invitation  of  the  grace  of 
God  in  Jesus  Christ ! 


SERMOI  VIII. 


THE   CALL   TO    DILIGENCE. 


ROMANS  xiii.  12. 

The  night  is  far  spent ;  Ihe  day  is  at  hand. 

THE  whole  duration  of  our  existence,  here  and  hereaf- 
ter, is,  in  these  words,  divided  into  two  parts — night  and 
day — a  single  night,  a  single  day.  The  night  begins  at 
birth,  the  day  begins  at  death.  To  those  who  are  this 
side  of  the  grave,  it  is  night;  to  those  who  are  beyond 
the  grave,  it  is  day.  They  who  died  in  the  Lord,  have 
now  the  day  of  endless  glory;  they  who  died  in  their 
sins,  have  also  their  endless  day;  but  as  the  scriptures 
speak  of  it,  it  is  "the  day  of  wrath,  and  of  the  revela- 
tion of  the  righteous  judgment  of  God."* 

You  will  observe  that  the  relative  position  of  night 
and  day,  in  regard  to  the  life  of  man,  is  not  the  same  in 
the  text  as  in  certain  other  passages  of  scripture.  Some- 
times the  comparison  is  between  our  present  life  and  our 
approaching  death;  between  the  life  that  now  is,  as  the 
only  time  to  work  out  our  salvation,  and  death,  as  the 
final  termination  of  all  opportunity  of  preparing  to  meet 
our  God;  and  then  the  present  life  is  our  day,  and  death 
is  represented  as  a  coming  night.  Of  this  sort  is  the 
comparison  in  those  words  of  our  Lord,  "  I  must  work 

•Romans  ii.  5. 


172  SERMON   VIII. 

the  works  of  Him  that  sent  me,  while  it  is  day ;  the  night 
cometh,  when  no  man  can  work."* 

But  here  the  comparison  is  not  between  life  and  death, 
but  between  two  divisions  of  life — the  life  that  we  have 
now,  before  we  die,  and  the  life  we  shall  have  when  we 
die.  Hence,  the  present  is  the  night,  the  future  the  day. 
"  The  night  is  far  spent ;  the  day  is  at  hand."  To  some 
here,  it  is  very  near  the  break  of  day. 

I.  I  will  show  in  what  sense  our  present  life  is  justly 
called  the  night. 

1st.  It  is  our  time  of  ignorance.  At  the  very  best 
of  our  condition  this  side  the  grave,  we  walk  in  igno- 
rance in  respect  to  matters  in  the  works  and  ways  of  God, 
so  innumerable,  so  immeasurable,  that  our  light  elsewhere 
is  but  as  the  spark  of  the  fire-fly  upon  the  bosom  of  the 
night.  But  mistake  me  not;  I  do  not  mean  that  we  have 
not  a  clear,  and  most  precious,  and  sufficient  revelation  of 
the  truth  and  will  of  God,  in  regard  to  all  things  which 
it  was  the  purpose  of  God  to  reveal,  as  necessary  to  our 
doing  his  will,  and  attaining  our  salvation.  There  is  light 
enough  in  the  Bible,  when  received  by  a  lowly  and  pray- 
erful mind,  and  when  pursued  with  ready  obedience,  to 
teach  all  we  have  need,  for  present  duties  and  interests, 
to  know  concerning  God  and  ourselves;  His  will,  and 
our  duty ;  His  salvation,  through  Christ,  and  our  way  by 
which  to  obtain  it ;  light  enough  about  the  way  of  life, 
and  the  passage  of  death,  and  the  awards  and  the  heri- 
tage of  eternity,  and  the  love  and  wrath  of  God,  to  guide, 
to  stimulate,  to  comfort  us,  if  we  will  "run  with  patience 
the  race  that  is  set  before  us."  But  still,  even  there, 

John  ix.  4. 


THE   CALL   TO   DILIGENCE.  173 

where  the  precious  revelation  of  the  word  of  God  is  most 
direct  and  full,  and  where  the  meek  and  lowly  mind  is 
conscious  that  it  needs  no  more,  it  is  revelation  directed 
only  here  and  there,  touching  only  certain  points,  and  em- 
inences, and  headlands.  It  is  but  reflected  and  partial 
light — the  moon,  not  the  sun;  the  light  of  night,  in 
which  we  can  see  enough  to  shape  our  course  and  be  com- 
forted ;  not  the  broad,  penetrating  daylight,  scattering  the 
mists,  illuminating  the  valleys,  filling  the  forests,  reveal- 
ing all  things. 

Surely,  when  you  think  of  the  works  of  God  immedi- 
ately around  us,  and  of  what  the  wisest  know  of  them, 
you  will  feel  that  now  is  the  night. 

Who  but  the  most  learned  in  the  various  departments 
of  what  science  calls  the  ivorks  of  nature,  but  religion  calls 
the  works  of  God,  can  have  a  just  impression  of  how  lit- 
tle we  are  capable  of  knowing  there  ?  We  speak,  indeed, 
and  justly,  of  great  advances  beyond  the  knowledge  of 
preceding  ages,  in  that  field ;  wonderful  discoveries,  as- 
tonishing results  of  vast  researches.  But  let  us  remem- 
ber, these  are  all  comparative.  They  are  vast  and  won- 
derful compared  with  what  was  known  before;  but,  com- 
pared with  what  we  must  know  remains  unknown,  and  im- 
possible to  be  known  in  the  present  life — compared  with 
vast  regions  of  knowledge  in  the  works  of  God,  all  around, 
and  all  above,  and  within  the  circle  of  our  constant  view, 
but  into  which  the  researches  of  man  have  never  pene- 
trated, and  in  this  life  cannot  penetrate  one  single  step — 
what  is  all  human  attainment  here,  but  the  laborious 
climbing  up  of  now  and  then  an  eminence,  only  to  see  a 
boundless  expanse,  where  foot  of  man  hath  never  trod? 


174  SERMON  VIII. 

Our  lamp  is  better,  and  shines  further  and  brighter, 
than  that  of  previous  centuries.  It  has  greatly  extended 
our  illuminated  circle.  But  after  all,  it  is  a  lamp — not 
the  sun;  the  night  is  relieved,  not  broken.  It  is  a  very 
little  way  that  we  can  go  without  being  lost  in  the  unmit- 
igated darkness.  We  discover  planets  before  unknown; 
we  resolve  the  nebulous  spots  in  the  sky  into  many  dis- 
tinct stars  and  immense  worlds;  we  calculate  the  prodi- 
gous  orbits  and  predict  the  distant  returns  of  the  comets ; 
we  measure  the  velocity  of  light,  and  the  bulk  and  weight 
of  worlds  apparently  on  the  outskirts  of  the  universe; 
but  what  remains  ?  Is  there  an  atom  of  the  dust  of  our 
own  earth — is  there  a  spark  in  the  light  of  our  own  sun- 
is  there  a  leaf  on  the  trees  of  our  own  forests — is  there 
a  sensation  in  our  own  personal  consciousness — is  there  a 
mote  in  the  sunbeam,  that  is  not  yet  to  our  understand- 
ing an  impenetrable  mystery  ? 

But,  my  brethren,  from  the  universe  of  the  works  of 
God, turn  your  thoughts  to  the  universe  of  his  Providence; 
its  boundless  embrace,  its  unfathomable  designs,  its  innu- 
merable parts,  their  wonderful  minuteness,  their  wonder- 
ful greatness !  Think  how  far  our  light  extends  over  that 
world,  and  you  must  feel  that  it  is  now  the  night. 

Every  least  event,  the  falling  of  a  leaf,  the  passing  of 
a  shadow,  the  movement  of  a  thought,  the  death  of  an 
insect,  is  connected,  in  the  counsels  of  God,  as  really  as 
the  downfall  of  an  empire,  with  one  grand,  holy,  infinite- 
ly good  and  wise  design,  which,  from  the  beginning,  he 
has  been  carrying  on  toward  the  final  consummation,  as 
steadily  and  surely  as  the  sun  ascends  the  skies;  involv- 
ing infinite  complexity  of  detail ;  presenting  to  our  feeble 


THE   CALL   TO   DILIGENCE.  175 

vision  inextricable  confusion  and  contradiction ;  but  going 
on  in  the  continual  progress  of  its  vast  orbit,  with  such 
harmony  and  perfectness  in  the  sight  of  God,  that  all  will 
be  finally  completed  precisely  where,  and  when,  and  how, 
his  will  at  first  designed. 

But  what  a  world  of  darkness  is  all  that  movement  to 
us,  except  as  we  see  a  little  of  its  surface!  How  much  of 
it  can  we  trace  ?  How  far  can  our  sounding-line  descend 
into  its  depths  ?  How  many  of  its  winding  labyrinths  are 
we  able  to  follow  ?  Is  there  a  single  course  on  that  chart 
that  our  eye  can  pursue  ?  Is  there  a  single  action  of 
our  own,  or  of  any  creature,  the  bearing  of  which  on  that 
movement  we  can  see,  or  in  any  degree  appreciate,  know- 
ing, as  we  do,  all  the  while,  that  every  action  of  every  crea- 
ture is  part  and  parcel  of  that  wondrous  system  ? 

A  few  things  of  God's  providence  we  do  know,  but  only 
because  he  has  told  us.  We  know  that  in  the  moving  on  of 
his  great  purposes,  he  is  present  everywhere,  and  to  us  all; 
that  his  will  controls,  combines,  subordinates  all  events  to 
his  final  design;  that  to  each  of  us  there  is  that  freeness 
which  makes  us  morally  accountable  for  what  we  do,  or 
leave  undone ;  that  all  things  shall  work  together  for  eter- 
nal good  to  them  that  love  God;  that  the  ultimate  accom- 
plishment of  the  perfect  redemption  and  blessedness  of 
the  whole  blessed  communion  of  those  who  believe  in  his 
Son  Jesus  Christ,  is  the  one  end  to  which  the  whole  move- 
ment is  directed ;  and  that  all  will  issue  at  last  in  most 
wonderfully  displaying  and  glorifying  the  infinite  riches 
of  the  wisdom,  and  goodness,  and  grace  of  God  to  a  sinful 
world.  More  than  this,  as  to  the  providence  of  our  Hea- 
venly Father,  we  know  not' — more,  we  have  no  need,  in 


176  SERMON   VIII. 

this  life,  to  know.  It  is  our  Father's  hand  that  is  guid- 
ing all ;  and  what  need  his  children  to  inquire  any  further  ? 
"  His  way  is  in  the  sea,  and  his  path  in  the  mighty  waters, 
and  his  footsteps  are  not  known,"  We  cannot  follow 
them ;  but  we  can  trust  and  not  be  afraid.  We  may  take 
the  lamp  of  his  word,  and  go  forward  in  our  daily  obedi- 
ence, feeling  that  the  path  of  life  and  salvation,  and  so  of 
happiness,  here,  as  well  as  hereafter,  is  plain ;  but  still  it 
is  night. 

And  now,  from  considering  your  knowledge  of  things 
present  and  temporal,  proceed  to  consider  what  we  know 
of  the  things  future  and  eternal — the  world  beyond  the 
grave. 

"Now,  I  know  in  part"  said  St.  Paul,  speaking  of  that 
world;  and  in  comparison  with  him  who  had  been  "  caught 
up  to  the  third  heaven,"*  what  can  we  know  ?  We  have 
the  words  of  another  apostle  who  was  favored  with  won- 
derful manifestations  of  the  spiritual  world.  "  We  know 
not  what  we  shall  be,  (said  St.  John,)  but  this  we  know, 
that  when  he  (Christ)  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  him, 
for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is."|  Oh,  yes  !  blessed  be  God, 
we  do  know  this  one  glorious  truth.  When  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  shall  appear  in  his  second  coming  to  receive  his 
people  to  his  glory,  we,  if  belonging  to  that  company, 
shall  see  him  as  he  is,  and  be  like  him  as  he  is ;  and  that 
knowledge  of  the  future  blessedness  of  his  people  is 
enough  for  every  purpose  of  duty,  of  encouragement,  and 
of  consolation.  But  beyond  what  is  contained  in  that  one 
great  truth  of  perfect  likeness  and  communion  between 
Christ  and  his  people,  in  the  presence  of  his  eternal  glory, 

*2  Cor.  xii.  2.  f  1  John  iii.  2. 


THE   CALL  TO   DILIGENCE. 

what  know  we  of  the  life  and  relations  of  the  redeemed 
during  their  endless  being,  in  the  world  to  come?  What  of 
that  elder  family  of  blessed  ones,  those  hosts  of  God,  the 
angels  about  his  throne,  who  we  know  have  much  to  do 
with  us  here,  and  will  have  more  hereafter?    What  know 
we  of  those  "principalities  and  powers  in  heavenly  places," 
whose  everlasting  blessedness  is  to  be  so  like,  and  so 
mingled  with,  our  own?     What  know  we  of  what  is  con- 
tinually taking  place  among  us — an  immortal  soul  becom- 
ing disembodied,  leaving  its  bodily  tabernacle,  going  forth 
as  it  never  was  before,  and  where  it  never  was  before — its 
mode  of  existence,  of  communication,  of  action — what  do 
we  know  ?     Yea,  what  of  the  employments,  and  residence, 
and  relations,  and  faculties  of  immortal  souls,  after  the 
resurrection,  when  their  bodies,  made  incorruptible,  shall 
be  again  inhabited,  and  the  inhabitants  divested  of  all  in- 
firmities; superior  to  all  that  we  know  of  the  laws  of  mat- 
ter, and  space,  and  time;  admitted  to  the  interior  of  mys- 
teries, of  which  we  know  not  even  the  existence;  at  home 
in  all  the  boundless  domain  of  light;  seeing  nothing,  as  we 
are  compelled  to  see  all  things,  in  the  mere  outside  qualities 
seeing  all  things  as  we  see  nothing,  in  the  imvard  nature  ?• 
And  concerning  the  soul  that  hath  no  peace  with  God, 
but  is  driven  away  from  his  presence  into  the  "outer 
darkness,"    what  know   we,   what    adequate   conception 
have  we,  of  the  awful  despair  of  that  soul,  when  with  all 
its  enlarged  powers  of  life,  of  thought,  of  ability  to  realize 
what  it  is  to  be  lost  forever,  to  have  eternity  sealed  upon 
his  ruin,  he  knows  that  his  day  of  salvation  is  over,  the 
day  of  his  judgment  begun.    God  has  cast  him  out,  his 

12 


178  SERMON   VIII. 

condition  is  everlasting?  Oh!  who  knows  how  eternity 
seems  to  that  lost  soul  ? 

But  think  of  a  ransomed  soul,  coming,  in  the  resurrec- 
tion day,  to  the  full  possession  of  its  heavenly  inheritance ; 
think  of  him  as  safe  forever,  in  the  peace,  and  love,  and 
immediate  presence  of  "  God  and  the  Lamb,"  bathing  in 
that  fullness  of  joy,  with  faculties  immensely  invigo- 
rated and  enlarged,  and,  for  aught  we  know,  multiplied 
in  number ;  think  of  him  in  the  bosom  of  that  glo- 
rious communion  of  infinite  love,  and  holiness,  and  know- 
ledge, God  and  the  Saviour,  and  the  whole  vast  assembly 
of  his  ransomed  people,  their  communion,  one  with  another, 
without  an  interposing  veil,  spirit  to  spirit,  being  to  being, 
never  a  wave  of  trouble  in  that  deep  sea  of  blessedness — 
Oh !  what  know  we  now  of  heaven !  what  a  time  of 
ignorance  is  this !  Surely  it  is  the  night. 

2d.  But  we  must  give  you  another  reason  why  the 
present  division  of  our  existence  is  justly  called  the  night. 
With  a  large  proportion  of  the  human  family,  it  is  a  period 
of  sleep.  "  They  that  sleep,  sleep  in  the  night."  Men  are 
asleep  in  regard  to  their  eternal  interests,  dozing  away  the 
time  given  them  to  make  their  peace  with  God  and  secure 
a  heritage  in  Christ ;  fast  locked  in  a  deadly  sleep,  so  that 
while  the  interests  at  stake  are  infinite,  and  the  time  is 
fast  hastening  away,  and  the  warnings  are  loud  around 
them,  and  the  earth  is  quaking  under  the  steps  of  the 
coming  judgment,  and  a  voice  from  heaven  is  heard  con- 
tinually crying,  "Awake,  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise 
from  the  dead,  and  Christ  shall  give  thee  life,"  they  sleep 
on  as  unmoved  and  unconcerned  as  ever. 

Insensibility  is  a  marked  feature  of  sleep.     Lift  up  the 


THE   CALL   TO    DILIGENCE.  179 

eye-lid  of  the  sleeper  and  he  does  not  see.  The  sleep- 
walker, with  his  eyes  open,  paces  the  fearful  edge  of  the 
precipice,  but  sees  not.  The  heavens  are  pealing  with 
thunder,  but  he  hears  not.  A  boat  is  seen  rushing  down 
the  rapids  of  Niagara,  drawing  fearfully  near  the  tremen- 
dous cataract ;  every  one  that  sees  is  frantic  with  anxiety 
for  the  man  that  is  in  it;  but  that  man  is  perfectly  at 
ease,  he  knows  nothing  of  the  peril,  he  is  asleep.  A  fellow 
creature  is  to  be  executed  for  capital  crime,  at  break  of 
day,  to-morrow.  The  scaffold  is  ready.  You  go  into  his 
dungeon  to  help  him  get  ready  to  meet  the  judgment 
of  God.  You  can  hardly  overcome  your  emotions.  But 
the  prisoner  has  none.  He  is  utterly  insensible  to  the 
awfulness  of  his  condition.  He  imagines  himself  at  liberty, 
and  his  thoughts  are  busied  with  sanguine  schemes  for  the 
present  world.  He  is  asleep.  I  know  not  a  truer  picture 
of  the  spiritual  slumber  in  which  impenitent  men  are 
drowned,  in  regard  to  their  actual  state  before  God,  and 
the  great  work  of  life  which  demands  their  instant  effort. 
Oh !  what  is  condemnation  at  a  bar  whose  extremest  pen- 
alty can  only  kill  the  body,  to  the  condemnation  of 
God,  which  forever  destroys  both  soul  and  body  in  hell? 
And  what  sleep  is  so  strange,  what  insensibility  so  fear- 
ful as  his,  who,  under  that  condemnation  for  his  sins, 
knowing  there  is  a  Saviour  to  take  it  away,  and  but  a 
short  and  most  uncertain  time  to  secure  an  interest  in  that 
Saviour's  grace,  is  doing  nothing  for  it,  feeling  no  concern 
about  it ;  taken  up  with  dreams  about  this  short  life,  as 
if  it  were  to  abide  forever!  Nothing  seems  sufficient  to 
arouse  him  to  the  business  of  his  soul.  The  warnings  of 
the  word  are  in  vain.  The  afflictions  of  Providence  shake 


180  SERMON  VIII. 

him  in  vain.  Soon  it  will  be  too  late  to  be  concerned,  and 
to  pray,  and  strive ;  but  he  is  sleeping  on.  Sometimes, 
indeed,  there  is  a  partial  opening  of  the  eyes.  Some  sense 
of  the  reality,  and  of  what  ought  to  be  done,  gains  an 
entrance.  The  man  is  half  awake,  and  begins  to  look 
around  upon  time  and  eternity,  sin  and  God,  heaven  and 
hell ;  and  he  begins  to  move  a  little  about  the  work  to 
be  done.  But  the  world  is  at  hand  with  its  opiate,  and 
the  strength  of  long  established  habits  of  impenitence, 
and  of  the  neglect  of  God,  is  at  hand  with  its  bonds ; 
and  he  falls  back  as  insensible  and  unconcerned  as  ever, 
till  in  his  sad  history  that  whole  awful  declaration  of  God 
is  fulfilled:  "Because  I  called  and  ye  refused,  ...  ye 
have  set  at  nought  all  my  counsel,  and  would  none  of 
my  reproof:  I  also  will  laugh  at  your  calamity,  and  mock 
when  your  fear  cometh;  when  your  fear  cometh  as  desola- 
tion, and  your  destruction  as  a  whirlwind.  Then  shall  they 
call  upon  me,  but  I  will  not  answer."11  Yes,  then;  for 
when  "  destruction  cometh  from  God,  as  a  whirlwind," 
upon  the  impenitent  soul,  sleep  can  endure  no  more ;  no 
prayerless  soul  can  then  help  calling  upon  God.  "  Then 
shall  they  call  upon  me,"  saith  the  Almighty — they  shall 
beg  a  hiding  place  from  that  tempest.  Yes,  then  they  will 
pray  who  never  prayed  before.  But  the  time  to  be  heard 
is  over.  That  time  was  once.  It  was  dreamed  away.  It 
is  now  gone  forever.  "  They  shall  call  upon  me,  but  I  ivill 
not  answer" 

But  a  state  of  dreaming  is  also  characteristic  of  sleep. 
The  sleeper,  starving  with  hunger,  dreams  he  is  seated  at 
a  plentiful  feast.  The  sleeper  buried  in  a  prison,  and 
clothed  in  chains,  dreams ;  and  at  once  the  sad  reality  is 

*ProT.  i.  24,  etc. 


THE   CALL   TO   DILIGENCE.  181 

exchanged,  in  his  imagination,  for  all  the  sweets  of  his 
home,  and  the  enjoyments  of  liberty.  And  what  else  is 
the  actual  state  of  those  who,  with  such  complacent 
confidence  in  their  condition,  are  living  for  this  world,  un- 
concerned about  God  and  his  peace?  Do  they  see  any 
thing — any  tiling^  as  it  is,  in  its  real  character,  its  actual 
relations,  its  just  proportions,  in  its  proper  value?  Are 
not  all  things  that  engage  their  interests,  but  as  a  proces- 
sion of  actors  upon  the  stage,  that  "  walketh  in  a  vain 
show,"  indebted  to  tinsel,  and  drapery,  and  imagination, 
for  all  it  looks  like,  and  only  waiting  the  drop  of  the  cur- 
tain to  break  up  and  vanish  "  as  a  dream  when  one  awa- 
keth?"  Are  they  spending  their  strength  in  efforts 
that  tell  upon  the  great  business  of  life,  the  great  concern 
of  man ;  or  only  upon  schemes  of  happiness,  which  the 
first  waking  moment,  the  first  dawn  of  the  eternal  day, 
wih1  put  to  shame  as  a  most  wretched  delusion  ?  What  is 
every  thought  of  the  possibility  that  man,  an  immortal 
soul,  made  for  communion  with  God,  can  ever  be  happy 
or  satisfied,  even  in  this  life,  without  God,  without  his 
peace,  his  love,  his  blessing — what  is  it,  but  the  veriest 
and  vainest  dream  the  mind  of  man  is  capable  of  ?  And 
what  else  is  the  idea  so  much  indulged,  that  there  is  so 
much  time  in  life  to  serve  God,  that  one  may  safely  delay 
the  work  of  salvation  to  a  more  convenient  season  ?  Has 
it  never  seemed  to  you,  in  sleep,  that  you  were  engaged 
in  something  that  was  occupying  a  very  long  time,  a 
whole  day  of  effort,  full  of  a  whole  history  of  cares,  and 
trials,  and  doings,  which  in  reality  was  the  dream  of  a 
moment?  And  what  else  will  seem  your  imagination 
of  the  length  of  the  present  life,  as  furnishing  abundance 


182  SERMON    VIII. 

of  time  to  serve  the  world,  and  then  to  serve  God,  when 
death  shall  unbar  the  windows  of  the  day,  and  you  shall 
find  the  night  is  gone,  eternity  begun?  A  dream!  a 
dream!  but,  alas,  a  dream  which  must  be  remembered 
with  anguish  to  all  eternity. 

I  am  aware  that  dreams  seldom  seem  dreams  while  they 
are  passing.  They  seem  honest  realities.  So  seem,  as 
long  as  they  last,  the  delusions  of  this  world,  that  hold  the 
spiritual  sleeper.  It  is  the  awakening  that  will  convince 
him  what  they  are,  and  where  the  reality  is  found. 

Sometimes,  in  a  dream,  there  is  an  undefined  idea  that 
we  are  only  dreaming.  And  it  is  not  unfrequently  the 
case  with  those  who  try  to  content  themselves  with  earthly 
things  for  their  portion,  and  to  feel  that  they  are  about 
their  work,  and  seeking  their  appropriate  ends,  that  they 
feel  an  uncomfortable  sense  that  it  is  all  a  mistake ;  that 
they  are  only  sowing  to  the  wind,  to  reap  the  whirlwind; 
that  nothing  has  any  reality  of  peace,  but  the  peace  of 
God,  that  nothing  is  worth  their  hearts  but  his  service. 
But  on  they  go,  till  that  half  consciousness  of  the  truth 
sleeps  also,  and  so  they  die,  and  find  how  true  was  that 
half  heard  voice  within  them,  and  how  sorrowful  it  was 
that  they  did  not  hear  it  more  reverently. 

II.  It  remains  for  the  second  division  of  our  discourse, 
that  we  speak  of  the  future  life,  as  called  in  our  text  "the 
day"  But  to  show  in  what  sense  it  is  so  called,  is  ren- 
dered unnecessary  by  what  we  have  said  of  the  present  life 
as  the  night.  By  contrast,  you  can  easily  understand  the 
appropriateness  of  the  wording  of  the  text.  But  let  us  try 
to  form  some  conception  of  the  change  from  the  present 
night  to  that  coming  day.  To  help  your  conception,  think 


THE   CALL  TO   DILIGENCE.  183 

of  the  change  from  a  man  asleep  to  the  same  man  when 
he  awakes  from  sleep !  Such  is  the  marvellous  change 
that  were  it  not  for  our  daily  sight  and  experience  of 
it,  we  could  hardly  believe  it  to  be  the  same  identical  man. 
Such  new  views  and  feelings,  such  enlargement  and  ex- 
altation in  all  his  consciousness,  in  the  operation  of  all  his 
senses,  in  every  faculty  of  body  and  mind !  It  is  an  in- 
fant suddenly  sprung  up  to  manhood.  It  is  a  captive 
suddenly  unchained  and  brought  out  of  darkness  into 
open  day.  The  man  is  new  to  himself.  He  is  in  a  new 
world.  Well,  then,  apply  this  to  the  aid  of  your  thoughts 
in  conceiving  of  the  change  when  we  shall  awake  out  of  the 
present  night  time,  into  the  new  vigor,  and  activity,  and 
faculty,  the  new  consciousness,  the  expanded  being,  of  the 
eternal  day. 

Again,  consider  the  vast  change  that  takes  place  with 
each  of  us,  every  morning,  as  the  rising  of  the  dawn  ex- 
changes the  uncertain  and  contracted  views  of  the  night 
for  the  expanded  revelation  of  the  day.  Suppose  you  had 
never  seen  the  face  of  creation  but  at  night,  with  the 
moon  and  stars,  and  the  aid  of  your  lamp — what  would 
you  know  of  it?  A  little  just  around  you,  the  rest  all  a 
black  expanse,  nothing  seen  but  undefined  extension. 
And  suppose  you  should  then  suddenly  find  yourself  in 
the  open  day;  all  the  varied  scenery  of  nature,  all  the 
beautiful  coloring  of  the  flower,  of  the  forest,  and  the  sky, 
all  the  minute  and  the  grand  which  every  day  reveals  to 
our  familiar  view,  suddenly  exhibited.  It  would  be  a 
feeble  illustration  of  the  vast  change  that  must  take  place 
when  a  soul  exchanges  this  present  star-light  night  of  life, 
aided  as  it  is  by  the  lamp  of  the  word  of  God,  for  the  full 


184  SERMON   VIII. 

disclosures  of  the  everlasting  day.  Then  will  there  be  the 
awaking  of  the  soul  to  a  vigor  of  capacity  to  enjoy  or  to 
suffer,  which  it  never  knew  before.  Then  will  there  be 
light;  light  penetrating,  surrounding,  exhibiting  every 
thing  as  it  is.  Oh !  then  must  every  false  hope  be  seen 
as  it  is,  with  all  counterfeit  piety,  and  every  thing  under 
the  name  of  religion,  till  nothing  remains  unconfounded 
with  the  light,  but  the  simple  giving  of  the  heart  to  God 
and  the  simple  resting  of  the  sinner  in  Christ.  Then  will 
be  seen  the  true  value  of  the  peace  of  God  and  the  full  pre- 
ciousness  of  the  love  of  Christ  to  sinners;  the  wisdom  of 
those  who  took  refuge  there,  and  the  guilt  of  those  who 
neglected  so  great  salvation.  It  will  be  "the  day"  in- 
deed, "of  the  revelation  of  the  righteous  judgment  of  God" 
through  everlasting  ages.  A  day  which  will  behold  only 
two.  communities  out  of  the  whole  race  of  man;  but  those, 
alas !  how  widely  separated  in  character  and  destiny.  To 
one  it  will  be  "  the  day  of  the  revelation  of  the  righteous 
judgment  of  God,"  in  his  holiness  and  justice,  fulfilling 
his  word  to  the  impenitent  and  disobedient,  making  retri- 
bution for  their  ingratitude,  and  rebellion,  and  neglect  of 
the  Gospel  of  Christ;  while  to  the  other  also  it  will  be  the 
"revelation  of  the  righteous  judgment  of  God,"  in  his 
boundless  grace  to  all  who  embraced  the  salvation  of 
Christ,  making  good  to  them  all  his  promises,  investing 
them  with  "joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory." 

It  is  written  concerning  that  day,  "there  shall  le  no 
night  there"*  No  night  to  the  blessedness  of  the  redeem- 
ed, because  their  vision  of  God  will  never  be  clouded;  the 
brightness  of  their  eternal  prospect  will  never  be  darken- 

*Rev.  xxii.  5. 


THE   CALL   TO   DILIGENCE.  185 

ed ;  sorrow  can  never  come ;  perfect  bliss  never  cease.  But 
it  is  not  to  that  community  only  that  there  will  be  no 
night.  There  will  be  none  to  the  lost,  because  there  will 
be  no  sleep  there,  no  rest  arising  out  of  a  brief  unconscious- 
ness of  the  awful  reality  of  their  destiny,  no  darkness  up- 
on their  prospect,  not  even  a  momentary  dream,  however 
delusive,  of  something  better.  It  will  be  a  perpetual,  un- 
changing "day  of  the  revelation  of  the  righteous  judgment  of 
God"  Oh!  it  would  be  something  there  to  be  allowed 
some  blindness  for  a  moment  to  the  whole  reality,  some 
dream,  some  mode  of  getting  the  mind  away  from  the 
perpetual  thought  of  the  everlasting  future  of  a  lost  soul. 
No,  there  is  "no  night  there" 

III.  I  have  but  little  time  to  dwell  upon  that  portion 
of  our  text  which  must  conclude  our  discourse — the  de- 
claration that  "the  night  is  far  spent,  the  day  is  at  hand" 
It  is  true  in  regard  to  those  who  have  spent  a  large  part 
of  the  average  life  of  man.  It  is  applicable  to  those  who, 
whether  young  or  old,  vigorous  or  infirm,  are,  in  the  ap- 
pointment of  God,  soon  to  die,  and  among  them  may  be 
the  least  expecting  and  the  least  prepared  in  this  assem- 
bly ;  it  is  true  in  regard  to  us  all,  my  brethren,  because 
of  the  preciousness  of  every  year  and  day  when  such  in- 
terests are  at  stake,  and  such  uncertainty  hangs  over  even 
the  morrow.  Oh !  yes,  the  day  is  at  hand,  because  the  long- 
est life  of  man  is  nothing  in  the  presence  of  that  eternity. 

And  how  stands  your  condition  and  work,  my  hearers, 
with  reference  to  that  day?  Have  you  been,  to  this  mo- 
ment, sleeping  away  your  season  of  grace  ?  Has  the  far- 
spent  night  been  consumed  in  neglecting  God,  in  denying 
your  hearts  to  Christ,  in  serving  a  world  that  has  no  wages 


186  SERMON   VIII. 

to  pay  you  but  disappointment  and  sorrow?  Is  the  great  day 
at  hand,  and  have  you  made  no  preparation  ?  Is  the  whole 
work  of  your  salvation  undone,  all  put  off  to  some  indef- 
inite period,  as  if  any  uncertainty  were  good  enough  for 
such  an  interest  ?  And  will  you  still  say  with  the  sluggard, 
"a  little  more  sleep,  a  little  more  slumber,"  instead  of 
being  up  and  about  your  great  work,  striving  to  redeem 
the  time  and  get  ready  for  that  day  ?  Is  it  not  high  time, 
ye  dying  men,  to  awake  out  of  sleep  ?  high  time  to  cease 
hardening  your  hearts  against  the  grace  of  God,  and  in- 
creasing your  alienation  and  your  guilt  ?  Is  it  not  high 
time  you  were  beginning  a  life  of  earnest  prayer,  of  hum- 
ble repentance,  of  diligent  watchfulness,  "lest  that  day 
come  upon  you  unawares"  and  find  you  without  hope  in 
Christ? 

Are  there  any  who  feel  that  it  is  high  time,  and  whose 
consciences  are  struggling  to  be  free  and  to  be  permitted 
to  seek  God  and  salvation?  I  beseech  them  give  ear  to 
that  awakened  conscience.  Do  not  grieve  the  Spirit  of 
God,  whose  voice  it  is,  and  whose  rebuke  it  speaks.  "The 
time  is  short."  The  redeeming  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  still  invites  you. 

Ye  who  hope  you  are  Christians  in  more  than  name, 
are  you  indeed  awake  ?  Do  you  know  yourselves  ?  Do 
you  realize  the  solemnity  of  your  obligations  to  God? 
Are  your  eyes  well  open  to  the  leading  of  the  Master 
whose  name  you  bear?  Do  you  see  the  blessedness  you  are 
seeking — the  awfulness  of  the  misery  you  should  be  esca- 
ping ?  Does  the  reality  of  eternal  things,  of  the  all-seeing 
eye  of  God,  and  of  the  love  and  promises  of  Christ,  bear 
supremely  upon  your  hearts  and  control  your  lives  ?  Is  your 


THE   CALL  TO   DILIGENCE.  187 

standing  with  God  well  ascertained?  Are  all  dreamy 
hopes  and  baseless  consolations  renounced  ?  Is  it  only  by 
"comfort  of  the  scriptures"  that  you  have  hope  of  salva- 
tion? Do  you  habitually  reduce  all  questions  of  duty,  all 
marks  of  a  Christian,  all  your  expectations  of  God's  favor 
to  that  test — the  scriptures  ?  Are  you  living  "as  children 
of  the  light  and  of  the  day,"  lamp  in  hand  and  trimmed, 
waiting  the  coming  of  your  Lord  ? 

Was  not  that  a  tender,  but  most  piercing  rebuke  of 
Jesus  to  his  disciples,  when  they  slept  in  Gethsemane, 
while  he  was  prostrate  in  prayer,  and  full  of  agony?  At 
first  when  he  came  to  them  and  found  them  asleep,  he  only 
said,  "  Could  ye  not  watch  with  me  one  hour,"*  only  one 
hour?  A  second  time  he  came  from  his  own  place  of 
agony  and  prayer,  and  found  them  "asleep  again."*  Then 
he  looked  on  them  in  silence,  and  went  away  again  to  his 
solitary  conflict  and  agony.  A  third  time  he  came,  and 
Judas  and  his  band  were  coming  to  take  him;  the  time 
to  watch  and  pray  was  over.  Then  he  said,  "Sleep  on  now, 
and  take  your  rest;  behold  the  hour  is  at  hand  and  the 
Son  of  Man  is  betrayed  into  the  hands  of  sinners.  Rise, 
let  us  be  going."  As  if  he  had  said:  'Now  slumber  if  you 
can.  When  watching  and  praying  would  have  been  of  use 
to  prepare  you  for  the  coming  trial,  you  could  sleep.  Now 
that  the  danger  has  come,  take  your  rest;  watching  and 
praying  are  too  late.  Sleep  on  now !'  And  may  not  the 
unfaithful  disciple  of  the  present  day  expect  a  more  pain- 
ful rebuke,  when  his  Lord,  instead  of  the  Sufferer  in  Geth- 
semane, shall  be  the  Judge  of  quick  and  dead?  '  Sleep 

*  Matt,  xxvi .  40 .  •  Matt.  xxvi.  43.  f  Ib.  45, 46. 


188  SERMON   VIII. 

on  now?  (may  not  Jesus  then  say,)  '  faithless  sleeper, 
bearing  the  name  of  Christian ;  take  your  rest  now,  if  you 
can  find  it.  You  need  not  watch  or  pray  any  more.  The 
time  is  ended.  You  slept  in  the  day  of  temptation,  when 
prayer  and  vigilance  would  have  been  your  salvation,  when 
my  faithful  ones  were  denying  themselves  and  taking  up 
their  cross  and  following  me.  Your  slumbers  will  be  dis- 
turbed no  more  by  the  calls  of  duty  and  of  mercy.  Be- 
hold, they  are  at  hand  that  will  take  you  away.  Sleep  on, 
take  your  rest,  where  their  worm  dieth  not  and  the  fire  is 
not  quenched!'  But  to  the  earnest,  wakeful,  watching, 
praying  believer  in  Jesus,  how  animating  is  the  declaration : 
"  the  night  is  far  spent,  the  day  is  at  hand;"  the  race  is  far 
run,  the  prize  is  at  hand ;  the  battle  is  far  gained,  the  crown 
is  at  hand ;  the  pilgrimage  is  far  traveled,  the  home  and 
the  rest  are  at  hand.  "Now  is  our  salvation  nearer  than 
when  we  believed"  was  the  exulting  language  of  one 
who  realized  ah1  its  joyfulness.  Every  day,  every  trial, 
every  sorrow,  brings  nearer  our  day  of  deliverance,  short- 
ens the  intervening  night.  How  much  nearer  to  many  of 
us,  brethren,  is  that  glorious  day,  than  when  we  first  came 
as  believers  to  Christ!  How  soon  it  will  be  here  with 
death  to  try  our  faith,  and  put  us  to  earnest  prayer  and 
exercise  of  hope  for  a  short  space,  and  then  all  trial  is  over 
and  the  day  begun,  and  we  are  safe  at  home  for  ever  and 
ever.  "Lift  up  your  hearts,  then,  for  your  redemption 
draweth  nigh."  Press  forward,  brethren.  Keep  your 
eye  upon  the  golden  towers  of  the  city  of  God  on  high. 
Walk  as  children  of  the  day,  "fervent  in  spirit,  rejoicing 
in  hope,  patient  in  tribulation,  continuing  instant  in  prayer." 
Moderate  all  earthly  concern,  soothe  every  pain,  lighten 


THE   CALL   TO   DILIGENCE.  189 

every  burden,  assuage  all  griefs,  with  the  thought  of  the 
nearness  of  the  time  when  you  will  be  with  Christ  in  his 
glory.  "The  earnest  expectation  of  the  creature  waiteth 
for  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God."  "I  reckon, 
(said  one  who  was  well  skilled  in  such  computation,)  I  reck- 
on, that  the  sufferings  of  this  present  time  (said  an  Apostle 
who  had  so  many  sufferings  in  his  time  to  count)  I  reckon 
that  ah1  are  not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  glory  that 
shah1  be  revealed  in  us."*  May  that  estimate  be  ours,  and 
so  that  glory  ours,  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ !  Amen. 

*  Rom.  viii.  18. 


SERMON  IX. 

THE   CHRISTIAN  NOT   OF  THE   WORLd. 


JOHN  xvii.  16. 
"  They  are  not  of  the  world,  even  as  I  am  not  of  the  world." 

How  peculiarly  interesting  and  instructive  to  a  devout 
reader  of  the  scriptures,  is  the  intercessory  prayer  of  our 
Lord,  contained  in  this  chapter,  and  of  which  the  text  is 
a  part.  The  chapter  is  altogether  composed  of  that  pray- 
er, except  a  verse  or  two  of  introduction.  And  what  is 
the  value  and  interest  of  so  long  a  prayer,  coming  from 
the  lips  of  our  great  Intercessor,  and  especially  when  we 
read  in  it  that  it  was  offered,  not  only  for  his  disciples 
then  living,  but  for  all  that  should  ever  believe  on  him 
through  their  word,  and  therefore  for  us,  if  we  answer  to 
that  description ! 

The  time  and  circumstances  of  this  prayer  give  a  special 
impressiveness  to  whatever  lesson  of  duty  it  was  intended 
to  teach.  Jesus  had  just  come,  with  his  disciples,  from 
the  upper  chamber,  where  he  had  substituted  for  the 
Paschal  feast  of  the  Jews,  the  Christian  feast  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  to  commemorate  what  in  a  few  hours  was  to  be 
offered — the  sacrifice  of  himself,  as  the  Lamb  of  God,  in 
propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  world.  He  had  now 
reached  the  Mount  of  Olives.  In  a  few  moments  he  was 
to  enter  the  solitary  garden,  and  to  endure  that  awful 


THE   CHRISTIAN   NOT  OF  THE   WORLD.  191 

agony  of  soul,  which,  ever  since,  has  associated,  in  Chris- 
tian minds,  such  affecting  thoughts  with  the  name  of 
Gethsemane.  It  was  night.  Our  great  High  Priest 
being  prepared  to  offer  himself,  without  spot,  to  God,  both 
in  the  garden  and  on  the  cross,  begins  that  gracious  in- 
tercession for  believers,  which  now  he  ever  liveth  to 
continue  in  the  presence  of  the  Father  Almighty.  Hav- 
ing finished  his  parting  words  of  counsel  and  consolation 
to  those  he  was  about  to  leave  alone  in  the  world,  as  sheep 
in  the  midst  of  wolves,  "  he  lifted  up  his  eyes  to  heaven, 
and  said,  Father,  the  hour  is  come : "  the  hour  of  the 
great  trial,  the  hour  of  the  deep  agony,  the  hour  of  the 
powers  of  darkness,  the  hour  of  the  great  conflict  for  the 
deliverance  of  sinners,  the  hour  of  the  propitiation  for  the 
sins  of  the  whole  world.  Then  followed  that  mediatorial 
prayer,  so  earnest,  so  affectionate,  so  comprehensive — the 
prayer  that  embraced  in  its  arms  of  love,  and  bore  up  to 
God,  all  the  wants  of  all  disciples  of  Christ,  in  all  future 
ages;  a  prayer  which  ascended,  and  was  accepted,  on  the 
ground  of  the  perfect  merits  of  the  offerer;  which  still 
lives  in  heaven  before  the  mercy  seat,  and  is  as  efficacious 
for  the  Church  of  Christ  as  when  it  came  first  from  his 
lips,  and  to  which  it  is  the  privilege  of  all  that  come  unto 
God,  by  faith  in  Christ,  to  attach  their  kindred  supplica- 
tions, that  they  may  mount  on  its  wings,  and  be  heard  for 
its  merits. 

Brethren,  is  the  intercession  of  our  Lord  in  heaven,  as 
the  "  Advocate  with  the  Father  for  all  that  come  unto  God 
through  him,"  a  matter  of  deep  interest  to  you  ?  Do  you 
feel,  sometimes,  as  if  you  would  like  to  look  "  within  the 
veil,"  and  get  a  view  of  the  High  Priest  of  our  profes- 


192  SERMON   IX. 

sion,  in  the  discharge  of  his  great  office,  standing  before 
the  mercy-seat,  bearing  on  his  heart  the  wants  of  all  his 
people,  and  in  virtue  of  his  atoning  sacrifice  on  the  cross, 
making  intercession  for  each  of  them?  Would  you  like 
to  know  what  is  the  burden  of  his  intercession  ?  what  be- 
sides the  forgiveness,  and  sanctification,  and  perfect  redemp- 
tion of  believers  ?  what  in  your  individual  case  attracts 
his  attention  and  furnishes  especial  subject  of  mediation  ? 
We  cannot  lift  the  veil  of  things  unseen,  as  yet.  But  as 
Jesus,  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  vouchsafed  to  his 
disciples,  for  a  moment,  a  sight  of  that  ineffable  glory 
which  he  was  soon  to  put  on,  and  in  which  he  is  now  seen 
in  heaven ;  so,  in  this  mediatorial  prayer,  offered  in  such 
direct  connection  with  his  mediatorial  sacrifice,  in  the  hour 
that  so  concentrated  all  the  functions  of  his  everlasting 
priesthood,  he  has  given  us  the  best  view  we  can  have  in 
this  world,  of  his  intercessory  office,  "  in  the  secret  place 
of  the  tabernacle  of  the  Most  High."  Study  the  petitions 
of  that  prayer.  You  will  see  in  it  what  it  was  for  which 
your  Saviour  was  especially  concerned  in  your  behalf,  my 
Christian  brethren,  when  his  love  for  you  was  just  taking 
him  to  suffer  and  die  for  your  sins.  You  may  thus  form 
a  good  idea  of  what  concerns  him  now,  in  your  behalf,  as 
he  looks  upon  you  in  your  present  weakness,  and  expo- 
sure, and  dangers.  And  thus  may  you  learn,  most  im- 
pressively, what  it  is  that  should  occupy  your  chief  con- 
cern for  yourselves,  and  should  speak  with  all  earnestness, 
in  your  own  prayers. 

In  that  mediatorial  prayer  of  our  Lord,  there  is  a  fea- 
ture on  which  I  desire  to  collect  all  your  thoughts  at  pres- 
ent. And  that  is,  how  much  the  mind  of  our  compassion- 


THE   CHRISTIAN   NOT   OF   THE   WORLD.  193 

ate  Saviour  was  drawn  to,  and  occupied  with,  the  condi- 
tion of  his  people,  as  being  "in  the  world-"  in  it  as  a 
place  of  duty  and  a  place  of  danger,  and  yet  as  being  not 
"  of  the  world  -"  a  separate  people,  mingled  but  distinct, 
associated  but  not  assimilated,  having  much  in  common 
with  the  world  as  to  the  present  life,  but  yet  "  a  peculiar 
people,"  "  not  conformed  to  the  world."  First,  he  de- 
scribed them  as  having  been  given  to  him  by  the  Father, 
"out  of  the  world"  Then  he  adverted  to  the  trial  to 
which  they  were  to  be  exposed,  in  being,  without  his  visi- 
ble presence,  in  the  midst  of  the  world's  influences. 
"Now,  (he  said,)  I  am  no  more  in  the  world,  but  these  are 
in  the  ivorld,  and  I  come  to  thee"  Then  he  speaks  of  the 
opposition  they  must  meet  with  from  the  world.  "  The 
world  hath  hated  them,  became  they  are  not  of  the  world,  even 
as  I  am  not  of  the  world."  Then  comes  the  supplication 
drawn  out  by  that  thought  of  the  world's  enmity.  "  I 
pray  not  that  thou  shoiddst  take  them  out  of  the  world,  but 
that  thou  shouldst  keep  them  from  the  evil"  Then  follows 
a  repetition  of  the  description  just  before  uttered,  of  the 
unworldly  character  of  his  people,  their  distinct  and  sepa- 
rate character  while  in  the  world :  "  They  are  not  of  the 
world,  even  as  I  am  not  of  the  world"  This  repetition  of 
that  description  is  remarkable.  Why,  in  the  space  of 
three  verses,  did  Jesus  twice  declare  of  his  people,  on 
that  most  solemn  occasion,  in  that  brief  space  when  the 
whole  burden  of  their  necessities,  in  all  ages,  was  in  his 
mind,  "  They  are  not  of  the  ivorld,  even  as  I  am  not  of  the 
world"  ?  It  was  no  vain  repetition.  Our  Lord  had  mean- 
ing in  such  things.  It  is,  like  his  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say 
unto  you,"  intended  to  be  regarded  as  very  emphatic;  and 
13 


194 


SERMON   IX. 


it  ought  to  draw  our  serious  attention.  I  read  it  as 
connected  with  the  next  verse,  "Sanctify  them  through 
tlnj  truth."  The  progressive  sanctification  of  the  disciples 
of  Christ  is  most  intimately  connected  with  the  distinct 
carrying  out  of  their  character,  as  "  not  of  the  world." 
I  read  it  also  as  connected  in  the  same  prayer  with  the 
declaration  of  the  Saviour,  "/  am  glorified  in  them" 
Christ  is  glorified  in  his  disciples  in  proportion  as  they  are 
faithful  to  their  proper  character  as  " not  of  the  luorld" 

I  desire,  therefore,  in  this  discourse,  to  set  out  in  some 
of  its  chief  features,  this  character  of  Christ's  people,  as 
"  Not  of  the  world" 

But  in  order  that  our  view  may  be  distinct,  we  must 
form  a  distinct  idea  of  the  ivorld  here  spoken  of.  What 
are  its.  distinctive  features  ? 

The  human  race  are  in  the  scriptures  distributed  into 
two,  and  only  two,  divisions — the  Jdngdom  of  God  and  the 
world,  or  the  kingdom  of  "  the  god  of  this  world,"  "  the 
spirit  that  worketh  in  the  children  of  disobedience."  They 
who  walk  according  to  that  spirit,  are  said  to  walk  "  accord- 
ing to  the  course  of  this  world,"  and  to  be  "dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sins;"  "fulfilling  the  desires  of  the  flesh,  and 
of  the  mind."*  And  our  Lord  has  solemnly  declared  that 
none  can  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  except  they  be 
bom  again  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  f  that  is,  the  only  way  out 
of  the  world  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  is  the  way  of  a 
great  spiritual  transformation,  the  new  birth  by  his  Spirit. 
"If  any  man  be  in  Christ,  (that  is,  "not  of  the  world,") 
he  is  a  new  creature."  Thus,  St.  Paul  exhorts  us  to  be 
" transformed  by  the  renewing  of  the  mind"  as  the  only 
way  to  be  "not  conformed  to  this  world"\ 

*Eph.  ii.  1-3.  fjohn  iii.  3-5.  \  Rom.  xii.  2. 


THE   CHRISTIAN   NOT  OF  THE   WORLD.  195 

Hence  it  is  manifest  that  in  the  scriptural  view  of  the 
world,  as  spoken  of  in  the  text,  the  basis  of  its  distinctive 
character,  is  the  natural  or  unregenerate  state  of  man. 
The  world  is  not  marked  off  by  external  peculiarities; 
it  is  not  a  question  of  less  or  more  in  worldly  vanities,  or 
worldly  devotedness ;  its  boundary  line  is  not  made  by 
the  pale  of  the  visible  Church ;  we  do  not  ask  who  are 
they  that  have  received  the  sacraments  of  the  Church, 
and  attend  punctually  upon  its  services.  The  true  line  of 
the  world  runs  within  the  visible  sanctuary  and  separates 
to  right  and  left  the  partakers  of  the  sacraments.  It  is 
simply  the  question,  who  are  they  that  have  been  born 
again,  and  have  the  Spirit  of  Christ  ?  All  who  have  not 
been  thus  transformed,  and  who  are  therefore  in  their  nat- 
ural state  of  spiritual  death,  are  "  walking  according  to 
the  course  of  this  world,"  and  so  are  of  the  ^uorld. 

Now  consider  what  innumerable  varieties  of  moral  char- 
acter this  description  of  the  world  embraces — from  the 
most  profligate  sensualist,  to  the  person  of  pure  morals 
and  delicate  refinement ;  from  the  men  of  most  brutal 
inclinations  and  habits,  to  the  elevated  tastes  of  those 
who  find  their  pleasures  in  intellectual  culture;  from  the 
most  selfish  of  mankind,  to  those  whose  benevolence  is 
the  blessing  of  their  neighborhood ;  from  the  most  dis- 
honest, to  those  whose  scrupulous  uprightness  is  almost 
proverbial.  Such  vast  diversities  are  certainly  found  among 
those  who  make  no  pretension  to  having  undergone  any 
such  spiritual  change  as  that  expressed  by  being  "  born 
again"  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  question  then  arises — and 
an  important  one  it  is — Seeing  such  wide  diversities  of 
moral  character  are  thus  all  classed  together  as  the  world, 


196  SERMON   IX. 

and  of  course,  as  all  displaying  essentially  the  same  pre- 
dominant features,  alike  out  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and 
therefore  excluded  from  his  salvation,  what  is  that  pre- 
dominant likeness,  in  the  midst  of  so  much  unlikeness, 
by  which  this  classification  is  made  ? 

We  answer :  it  is  in  their  affections;  they  "mind  earthly 
things,"  as  their  portion  and  felicity ;  their  affections  are 
set  "on  things  on  the  earth"  and  not  "on  things  above, 
where  Christ  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  God,"  and  where 
they  are  commanded  to  be  set,  and  will  be  set  if  we  "  be 
risen  with  Christ,"  and  have  his  Spirit;*  or,  to  use  another 
inspired  description,  they  " mind"  they  set  their  hearts  on 
"the  things  of  the  flesh,"  and  not  "the  things  of  the 
Spirit"!  Such  is  the  distinctive  feature  of  the  world. 

The  affections  of  some  who  are  of  the  world,  are  cer- 
tainly placed  on  things  far  higher  and  purer,  more  noble 
and  refined  than  those  of  others ;  but  we  mean  that  what- 
ever they  may  be,  they  are  things  on  the  earth,  temporal, 
not  eternal,  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God;  not 
Christ,  and  his  will,  and  service,  and  kingdom.  It  is  not 
asserted  that  the  affections  of  all  are  set  in  that  direction 
with  equal  devotedness ;  that  all  follow  "  the  course  of  this 
world"  with  the  same  zeal;  that  none  have  ever  any 
serious  thoughts  of  religion,  or  make  any  efforts  to 
obtain  eternal  life.  Far  from  it.  Many  of  the  most 
worldly  in  their  affections,  are  among  the  most  laborious 
in  endeavors,  by  outward  works,  which  require  no  change 
in  the  current  of  the  affections,  to  obtain  salvation.  The 
Pharisee  who  prayed  in  the  temple,  and  was  a  member  of 
;  God's  visible  Church,  and  fasted  twice  in  the  week,  and 
gave  the  tenth  of  all  he  possessed  to  what  he  considered 

*Col.  iii.  1,  2.  fRom.  viii.  5. 


THE    CHRISTIAN   NOT   OF   THE   WORLD.  197 

good  works,  was  of  the  world.  We  may  go  further  than 
he  in  seriousness  of  mind.  Religious  truth  may  exert  a 
daily  influence,  of  no  little  value  upon  our  feelings  and 
ways.  Though  not  renewed  in  our  minds,  we  may  be 
reached  and  operated  on  in  our  minds,  by  the  word  and 
Spirit.  Some  may  seem  so  little  worldly  in  their  affec- 
tions, that  in  comparison  with  others,  they  may  seem 
almost  spiritually  minded.  But  the  question  is  not,  what 
influences  affect  us  partially,  or  occasionally,  or  compara- 
tively, but  what  have  the  habitual,  the  governing  control 
of  our  hearts;  where  do  we  seek  our  present  portion; 
whence  come  the  motives  that  conclusively  and  perma- 
nently determine  our  lives  ?  And  the  answer,  with  regard  to 
all  who  have  not  been  born  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  in  all 
the  varieties  of  their  aspects,  is,  "  they  mind  earthly  things" 
not  the  things  of  "  the  Spirit  of  God''  They  cannot  say, 
"  The  Lord  is  the  portion  of  my  soul."  My  heart  is  fixed 
on  God.  "  I  delight  in  the  law  of  God,  after  the  inward 
man."  I  hunger  to  be  "holy,  as  God  is  holy." 

And  thus,  having  seen  the  distinctive  feature  of  the 
world,  we  obtain  by  contrast  the  more  satisfactory  view  of 
the  character  of  the  disciple  of  Christ,  as  "not  of  the 
ivorld" 

The  basis  of  his  distinctive  character  is,  that  he  has 
been  born  again.  He  is  "  not  in  the  flesh,"  but  "  in  the 
Spirit."  By  the  grace  of  God,  he  is  "  begotten  again  unto 
a  lively  hope ;"  thus  he  has  been  given  "  out  of  the  world," 
unto  Christ,  by  the  Father  ;*  and  now  he  "minds  the  things 
of  the  Spirit."  Thus  is  he  "  spiritually  minded."  t  His 
affections  are  upon  "  the  things  of  the  Spirit " — the  will 
of  God  and  the  path  of  holiness  here;  the  presence  of 

*  John  xvii.  6.  t  Rom.  viii.  5. 


198  SERMON   IX. 

God  and  the  holiness  of  his  kingdom  hereafter.  He  can 
say,  "  the  Lord  is  the  portion  of  my  soul"  The  creature  is 
cast  down  from  the  throne  it  had  usurped  in  his  heart. 
The  supremacy  of  the  Creator  is  restored.  The  great 
governing  motives  of  his  life,  are  brought  from  above  this 
world,  even  from  Christ  his  Lord  in  heaven.  I  do  not 
mean  that  there  is  never  any  inconsistency  in  the  state  of 
his  mind  with  this  heavenward  direction ;  that  earthly 
things  are  so  entirely  cast  out,  as  well  as  cast  down,  as 
not  to  furnish  cause  of  continual  watchfulness  and  often 
of  deep  self-humiliation;  that  though  his  heart  be  habitu- 
ally on  heavenly  things,  he  does  not  find  still  that  it  is  a 
very  weak  and  wayward  heart,  needing,  to  keep  it  where 
it  is,  the  continual  renewing  of  the  same  grace  that  first 
placed  it  there.  As  was  said  before,  in  regard  to  those 
who  are  of  the  world,  we  are  looking,  not  at  the  partial, 
or  occasional,  or  secondary  influences,  but  at  the  habitual, 
and  supreme.  The  true  disciple  is  not  of  the  world,  be- 
cause his  treasure  is  not ;  and  hence  his  heart  is  not. 
What  he  loves,  he  is  conformed  to. 

Take  good  heed,  brethren,  to  that  weighty  saying  of 
our  Lord  :  "  where  your  treasure  is,  there  ivill  your  heart 
be  also."  It  shows  the  precise  level  of  your  spiritual 
standing.  You  can  neither  rise  above  nor  fall  below  that 
mark.  If  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  not  your  chosen  and 
precious  treasure,  then  your  hearts  are  as  far  beneath  him, 
as  earth  is  below  the  heavens.  Whatever  your  happiness, 
its  fountain  head  is  somewhere  here  on  the  earth.  The 
stream  cannot  rise  above  its  source.  Your  happiness  can 
never  be  else  than  of  the  earth.  Your  best  portion  is 
therefore  here.  Temporary,  turbid,  unsatisfactory  as  all 


THE   CHRISTIAN  NOT   OF  THE   WORLD.  199 

things  earthly  must  be,  they  are  your  all.  Alas !  what 
poverty  for  an  immortal  soul !  Nothing  laid  up  for  eter- 
nity ;  and  yet  eternally  you  must  live ! 

But  on  the  other  hand,  if  Christ  be  your  treasure,  in 
comparison  of  whom  you  "  count  all  things  but  loss/' 
then  your  hearts  are  "where  he  is,  at  the  right  hand  of 
God."  The  fountain  head  of  your  happiness  is  there  in 
the  holy  mount.  A  well  of  the  water  of  life  is  within 
you  that  is  ever  "springing  up  into  everlasting  life."* 
You  will  go  where  your  treasure  is.  Your  "own place"  is 
with  Christ,  where  he  is  at  the  right  hand  of  God. 

And  now,  having  seen  the  main  classifying  feature  of 
those  who  are  not  of  the  world)  let  us  attend  for  a  moment 
to  the  comparison  by  which  the  nature  of  the  difference 
between  them  and  the  world  is  illustrated  in  the  text. 
"They  are  not  of  the  world,  (said  our  Lord,)  even  as  1 
am  not  of  the  world" — that  is,  the  disciple  of  Christ  is  not 
of  the  world  just  in  the  same  sense  as  He  who  took  our 
nature  and  was  made  man,  and  dwelt  among  us,  was  not. 
The  extent  of  unworldliness  in  the  two,  is  to  be  sure  un- 
speakably different;  the  principle  is  the  same.  And  thus 
have  we  a  fundamental  principle  of  all  Christian  character. 
The  disciple  is  as  his  Master.  There  is  a  common  charac- 
ter and  spirit  in  the  head  of  the  mystical  body  "which  is 
the  blessed  company  of  all  faithful  people,"  and  each  of 
his  members.  "Let  this  mind  be  in  you  which  was  also 
in  Christ  Jesus."|  "We  have  the  mind  of  Christ,"  j  was 
the  declaration  of  primitive  Christians,  and  we  must  be 
essentially  of  the  same  mind,  or  we  are  not  Christians 
of  any  degree.  Likeness  to  God  was  the  character  of 

*  John  iv.  14.  t  Phil.  ii.  5.  i  1  Cor.  iii.  16. 


200  SERMON    IX. 

man  as  created  and  unfallen.  Likeness  to  God  in  Christ 
is  the  character  of  man  now  fallen,  but  created  anew.  It 
is  true  religion  on  earth.  It  will  be  heaven  forever.  It 
is  the  family  likeness  of  "  the  household  of  God/'  associ- 
ating into  one  holy  brotherhood,  all  disciples  of  Christ  on 
earth  in  their  exceeding  imperfectness,  and  all  saints  in 
heaven  in  their  perfect  holiness.  The  difference  between 
them  is  great  but  continually  decreasing.  Those  on  the 
earth  are  striving  to  be  delivered  more  and  more  from 
remaining  worldliness,  and  to  be  more  conformed  to  their 
Master's  holiness.  What  of  the  world  yet  besets  them 
is  not  held  by  them  willingly,  but  adheres  to  them  unwil- 
lingly, as  clay  on  the  garments,  and  mire  on  the  feet  of 
the  traveller  through  a  marshy  way.  Soon  their  journey 
will  be  ended.  They  will  be  unclothed  of  all  that  remains 
of  the  world,  and  clothed  upon  with  all  that  remains  of 
heaven.  Then  will  Christ  and  all  his  people  be  one  in 
holiness  made  perfect,  as  they  are  one  now  by  a  common 
Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus. 

As  I  have  thus  described  the  true  disciples  of  Christ 
as  not  of  the  world,  in  respect  to  the  objects  on  which 
their  affections  are  supremely  set,  and  the  governing  mo- 
tives and  spirit  of  their  lives,  let  me  now  conduct  you  to 
another  view.  The  true  followers  of  Christ  are  not  of 
the  world,  but  are  a  peculiar  people  in  it  as  regards  their 
consolations  amidst  the  trials  of  the  present  life. 

The  type  of  the  condition  of  the  Christian  as  in  the 
world,  but  not  of  it,  was  the  nation  of  Israel  as  God's 
chosen  and  peculiar  people,  dwelling  alone  in  the  earth, 
surrounded  with  the  nations,  but  unassimilated  to  any  of 
them ;  first  while  in  Egypt,  then  in  the  wilderness,  then 
in  Canaan.  The  ceremonial  law,  from  its  elementary  be- 


THE    CHRISTIAN    NOT   OF   THE   WORLD.  201 

ginning  before  they  forsook  Egypt  to  its  completion  at 
Sinai,  was  the  wall  of  separation  between  them  as  a  visi- 
ble Church  of  God's  peculiar  people,  and  all  other  people. 
That  outward  separation  and  distinctness,  represented  the 
spiritual  separation  and  peculiarity  of  all  that  true  Israel, 
in  all  ages,  "  who  worship  God  in  the  Spirit  and  rejoice  in 
Christ  Jesus,  and  put  no  confidence  in  the  flesh."  In 
conformity  with  that  type,  St.  Peter  says  to  all  true  be- 
lievers in  Jesus  :  "  Ye  are  a  chosen  generation,  a  royal 
priesthood,  an  holy  nation,  a  peculiar  people,  that  ye 
should  show  forth  the  praises  of  Him  who  hath  called 
you  out  of  darkness  into  his  marvellous  light."  | 

But  most  signally  were  the  people  of  Israel  marked 
off  in  Egypt,  as  well  as  in  the  wilderness,  by  the  peculiar- 
ity and  the  inimitable  nature  of  their  consolations  amidst 
abounding  afflictions.  "When  the  plague  of  darkness  came 
down  on  all  the  land  of  Egypt,  so  deep  and  black  that 
"  the  people  saw  not  one  another,  neither  did  any  rise 
from  his  place  for  three  days;"  then  it  is  written,  "all 
the  children  of  Israel  had  light  in  their  dwellings"  What 
light  was  that?  Many  of  them  lived  where  the  Egyp- 
tians lived.  Then,  if  it  were  only  some  ordinary,  natural 
light,  such  as  of  candles  or  torches,  why  could  not  the 
Egyptians  have  had  the  same?  No,  the  Israelites  had 
what  was  impossible  to  the  Egyptians.  All  the  means  of 
ordinary  lighting  were  made  of  none  effect,  by  the  ex- 
traordinary, supernatural  darkness.  The  light  in  the 
dwellings  of  the  Israelites  was  equally  supernatural.  It 
was  just  the  same  light  which  afterwards,  in  the  pillar  of 
fire,  guided  their  night  march  out  of  Egypt  and  lighted 
up  their  whole  camp  when  they  rested.  Under  the 

*Phil.  iii.  3.  f  1  Pet.  ii.  9. 


202  SERMON   IX. 

plague  of  darkness  it  stood,  not  as  a  great  column  of  light, 
for  the  families  of  Israel  were  scattered  among  the  Egyp- 
tians ;  but  it  entered,  like  the  present  light  of  Gospel 
promises,  into  each  of  their  houses,  and  cheered  and  com- 
forted them  with  the  expression  of  God's  favor,  while 
their  oppressors  were  trembling  around  them  under  the 
darkness  of  his  judgment.  It  was  the  hand-writing  upon 
their  walls,  marking  them  as  His  peculiar  people,  and  dis- 
tinctly testifying,  that  though  in  Egypt,  they  were  not 
of  Egypt. 

And  thus  it  is,  when  God  sends  afflictions  on  the  chil- 
dren of  men,  which  bring  such  darkness  upon  all  the 
ways,  and  pleasures,  and  hopes  of  the  people  of  the  world, 
that  they  are  disquieted  within  them,  and  go  mourning 
all  the  day,  and  know  not  who  will  show  them  any  good, 
but  grope  about  for  consolation  and  find  none.  Then 
may  ye  "  discern  between  the  righteous  and  the  wicked, 
between  him  that  serveth  God  and  him  that  serveth  him 
not."  "  A  book  of  remembrance  "  is  written  for  them 
that  fear  the  Lord  and  think  upon  his  name.*  Unto 
them  "  shall  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  arise  with  healing 
in  his  wings."  There  is  light  in  their  hearts.  "  They 
walk  in  the  light  of  the  Lord."  Having  peace  with  God, 
through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  they  are  enabled  to  "  glory 
in  tribulations  "  —  "in  all  things  giving  thanks" — .find- 
ing their  consolations  to  abound  in  God  with  the  increase 
of  their  trials.  It  is  written,  "  He  giveth  songs  in  the 
night" f  Songs  in  the  day  time  are  easily  given.  Such 
is  the  rejoicing  of  the  world.  Egypt  could  have  that. 
But  in  the  night,  in  deep  tribulation,  when  all  the  candles 
with  which  the  children  of  this  world  light  their  life,  have 

*Mal.  iii.  16,  17,  18.  t  Job  xxxv.  10. 


THE   CHRISTIAN   NOT   OF   THE   WORLD. 


203 


gone  out ;  especially  in  the  night  of  death ;  oh,  then  to 
have  songs  of  rejoicings  in  our  hearts!  Who  can  give 
them  but  God;  who  but  his  people  can  learn  them? 
The  magicians  of  Egypt  did  great  wonders,  indeed,  in 
imitation  of  God's  plagues  upon  Egypt,  but  to  counter- 
feit his  signal-light  in  the  dwellings  of  his  people,  they 
did  not  attempt.  The  world,  and  they  who  are  not  of  it, 
are  often  associated  in  the  same  tribulations ;  but  the 
songs  in  the  night  with  which  God  visits  his  people  in  such 
times  of  need,  is  that  "  secret  of  the  Lord  with  them  that 
fear  him,"  with  which  the  world  intermeddleth  not.  "  I 
call  to  remembrance  (said  the  Psalmist)  my  song  in  the 
night.'  But  the  light  in  the  dwellings  of  Israel  in  Egypt 
did  not  forsake  them  when  they  had  left  Egypt.  As 
soon  as  their  scattered  families  had  gathered  into  one 
great  host,  and  had  gone  out  on  the  march  to  the 
promised  possession,  then  the  scattered  lights  of  their 
dwellings  were  gathered  over  the  vast  multitude  into 
a  pillar  of  cloud  and  of  fire — the  visible  expression 
of  the  presence  of  God  among  them,  to  guide,  defend, 
supply  and  comfort  them.  "  In  the  day  time  he  led  them 
with  a  cloud,  and  all  the  night  with  a  light  of  fire.": 

How  distinctly  were  the  Israelites  thus  separated  from 
all  the  people  of  the  countries,  and  marked  as  God's  pe- 
culiar people!  You  know  that  towards  the  Israelites, 
that  pillar  was  light,  and  towards  all  others,  darkness; 
that  in  the  day  time  it  appeared  as  a  cloud,  luminous,  but 
cloudy;  but  as  evening  came  on,  its  brightness  in- 
creased, till,  the  night  being  complete,  it  was  all  a  pillar  of 
fire,  illumining  the  whole  host  of  Israel  with  a  glorious 

*  Ps.  Ixxviii.  14. 


204  SERMON  IX. 

effulgence,  making  plain  their  way.  res  ting  as  a  defence  and 
consolation  upon  their  camp,  and  saying  in  a  language  that 
could  not  be  mistaken,  "  God  is  here ;  this  is  his  people" 
What  a  wondrous  sign !  How  remarkably  were  the  people 
of  Israel  separated  from  all  other  people,  by  consolations 
which  it  was  impossible  for  others  to  have  !  But  the  true 
Israel — the  living  Church  of  Christ — has  a  still  more 
blessed  light.  God  still  leads  his  people,  whom  he  hath 
chosen  out  of  the  world,  in  whose  hearts  he  hath  placed 
his  Spirit,  and  who,  in  the  midst  of  Egypt,  are  not  of  it, 
having  set  out  in  their  journey  to  the  heavenly  land.  He 
leads  them  "in  the  day  time  with  a  cloud,  and  all  the 
night  with  a  light  of  fire."  What  else  is  "the  glorious 
Gospel," — the  very  light  of  his  countenance,  the  assurance 
of  his  presence,  the  pledge  of  the  inheritance,  the  lamp  of 
our  path,  the  strength  and  joy  of  our  hearts — that  glori- 
ous manifestation  of  grace  in  Christ  Jesus?  "A  cloud" 
for  it  is  all  a  mystery  of  the  deep  things  of  God;  "  afire" 
of  wondrous  brightness,  for  it  is  "the  light  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God,  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ."  Full  of  precious  promises,  it  is  "joy  unspeaka- 
ble and  full  of  glory "  to  the  believer,  while  it  is  all 
condemnation  to  the  world  that  heeds  it  not.  "  In  the 
day  time  it  is  a  cloud — the  day  time  of  prosperity — when 
the  world  is  in  its  sunshine,  and  puts  on  its  brightest  and 
most  assuring  countenance ;  when  no  afflictions  darken  it, 
and  no  trials  reveal  its  emptiness.  Then  the  people  of 
God  are  wont  to  feel  too  little  their  need  of  what  his 
grace  has  prepared  for  them  in  the  gospel.  They  see  so 
much  light  all  around  in  the  wilderness,  that,  false  and 
vain  as  it  is,  it  dims,  to  their  view,  the  light  of  the  gos- 


THE  CHRISTIAN  NOT  OF  THE  WORLD.  205 

pel.  The  preciousness  of  the  latter  is  not  fully  realized. 
It  is  a  pillar  of  cloud,  not  of  fire — as  the  clouds  that 
brighten  so  gloriously  at  evening  into  blazing  chariots, 
are  only  clouds  at  noon.  But  only  wait  till  the  sun  has 
set.  Let  dark  night  come  on — a  night  of  adversity,  of 
sorrow,  of  deep  affliction.  Then,  when  all  the  candles 
with  which  the  men  of  the  world  seek  to  light  up  their 
tabernacles,  only  serve  to  make  their  darkness  the  more 
sensible ;  when  the  perfect  impotence  of  all  human  con- 
solations is  most  painfully  felt  5  when  what  was  before,  to 
the  world,  as  a  fire  of  light,  is  now  all  gloominess  and 
misery — then  shines  out,  in  all  its  glory,  the  preciousness 
of  the  gospel.  The  darker  the  world,  the  brighter  the 
gospel.  The  more  all  other  lights  go  out,  the  brighter 
that  light  appears.  What  was  a  cloud  in  the  day  time,  is 
a  pillar  of  fire  in  the  night  time,  saying,  of  all  whose 
hearts  it  comforts,  and  whose  path  it  guides,  "These 
are  not  of  the  world."  It  will  be  with  them  in  all  their 
journey  to  that  world  where  their  home  is,  and  their  hearts 
are,  and  never  will  it  seem  so  glorious,  so  full  of  the 
presence  and  love  of  God,  as  when  they  shall  be  going 
through  "  the  valley  and  shadow  of  death." 

Nothing  more  detects  and  exhibits  the  essential  differ- 
ence, in  point  of  character,  of  dependence,  and  of  heart,  as 
well  as  portion,  between  the  world  and  those  who  are  not  of 
ti,  than  affliction.  Job  said,  "  when  He  hath  tried  me,  I 
shall  come  forth  as  gold."*  When  he  was  tried  by  a  hot 
fire  of  tribulation,  he  did  come  forth  as  gold  indeed. 
Nothing  could  so  plainly  have  showed  the  eminent  pecu- 
liarity of  his  character,  as  of  another  stamp  altogether 
from  those  around  him. 

*  Job  xxiii.  10. 


206  SERMON   IX. 

There  is  in  pure  gold  an  essential  peculiarity,  which  man 
can  neither  give  nor  take  away.  Mix  its  dust  as  you 
please  with  the  dust  of  other  substances;  burnish  as  you 
please  other  substances  into  its  likeness,  the  fire  will  de- 
tect the  counterfeit,  and  will  bring  out  the  gold,  untar- 
nished and  undiniinished.  Thus  it  is  with  the  genuine 
character  and  peculiarity  of  true  Christians.  "Not  of  the 
world;"  as  long  as  they  are  this  side  of  the  grave,  they 
are  in  the  world.  Their  business  is  there,  their  sphere  of 
duty  is  there.  They  have  so  many  secular  interests,  em 
ployments,  duties  and  sympathies,  in  common,  in  many 
respects,  with  the  world,  that,  inasmuch  as  their  distinct- 
ive character  is  in  the  inward  man,  it  does  not  always 
appear  to  the  common  observer,  or  in  ordinary  circum- 
stances, how  truly  they  are  "a  peculiar  people,"  mixed 
with,  but  not  conformed  to,  the  world,  having  much  to  do 
with  it,  but  living  above  it.  Thus,  to  many,  there  seems 
no  difference  of  much  moment  between  the  character  of 
the  real  Christian,  and  that  of  many  amiable,  upright 
people,  who  make  no  claim  to  that  distinction.  But  the 
real  difference  is  immense.  There  is  an  entire  contrast 
of  ruling  dispositions,  of  chosen  portion,  of  habitual  re- 
liance, and  of  actual  relation  to  God. 

On  one  side,  the  affections  are  on  things  on  the  earth. 
Thus  are  they  essentially  worldly,  some  more  than  others, 
but  all,  in  their  ruling  dispositions  and  reliance,  worldly, 
Hence,  they  have  nothing  better  than  the  world  can  give. 
On  the  other  side,  the  affections  are  set  on  things  above, 
in  Christ,  his  will,  his  glory,  his  kingdom — in  some  more 
earnestly  than  in  others,  in  some  more  manifestly  than  in 
others,  but  in  all  that  are  Christ's  indeed,  really  and  ef- 


THE  CHRISTIAN  NOT  OF  THE  WORLD.  207 

fectively.  Thus  is  their  character  formed,  and  their 
position  determined.  The  two  classes,  in  the  sight  of 
God,  are  really  two  widely  distinct  people,  having  hearts 
without  sympathy  with  one  another,  in  their  governing 
influences;  having  masters  as  opposite  as  the  world  and 
heaven;  consolations  as  different  as  things  that  are  seen 
and  are  temporal,  and  the  things  invisible  and  eternal,  of 
the  kingdom  of  God.  There  are  times  when  all  this 
becomes  especially  manifest — times  of  affliction,  when 
ordinary  supports  have  failed,  and  human  relief  is  vain, 
and  the  world  seems  to  the  sorrowing  heart  all  a  desert, 
and  all  its  cisterns  dry.  The  faithful  disciple  of  Christ  is 
not  disappointed  then,  for  he  has  expected  nothing  better 
from  the  world.  His  consolation  is  not  taken  away,  be- 
cause it  never  depended  on  any  thing  here.  He  says  to 
the  man  of  the  world,  journeying  with  him,  "Let  not 
your  heart  be  troubled;  God  is  a  very  present  help. 
Our  light  afflictions,  which  are  but  for  a  moment,  may  well 
be  cheerfully  borne,  when  we  think  of  the  everlasting  rest 
which  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God.  Let  the  love  of 
Christ  be  our  comfort,  as  we  journey  on  to  his  kingdom." 
But  how  little  his  worldly  neighbor  is  able  to  receive  such 
consolation.  It  is  something  he  has  never  learned.  It 
meets  no  sympathy  within  him.  What  cheers  the  Chris- 
tian, only  the  more  troubles  him.  The  more  the  trials 
press,  and  the  world  grows  dark,  the  more  in  contrast 
these  travelers  appear.  One  of  them,  as  he  walks  in 
darkness,  is  continually  saying  in  spirit,  "Who  will  show 
me  any  good;"  all  is  "vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit;" 
there  is  none  to  comfort  me  !  The  other,  cast  down,  but 
not  destroyed,  sorrowful,  but  rejoicing  in  God,  has  meat 
to  eat,  his  neighbor  knows  not  of.  "My  soul,  wait  thou 


208  SERMON  IX. 

only  upon  God,  for  my  expectation  is  from  him.  In  God 
is  rny  salvation  and  my  glory;  the  rock  of  my  strength 
and  my  refuge  is  in  God." 

The  two  travelers  are  drawing  near  to  the  valley  of  death. 
How  different  their  views  of  that  passage.  To  one  it  is 
the  end  of  all  his  expectations ;  to  the  other,  it  is  the 
entrance  upon  all  the  blessedness  of  his  portion.  To  one, 
it  is  leaving  forever  all  he  has  ever  loved;  to  the  other, it 
is  going  to  all  on  which  his  love  has  ever  been  supremely 
placed.  Now  they  are  stepping  down  together.  The 
waters  are  deep,  the  darkness  is  awful ;  heart  and  flesh 
are  failing.  "  Who  will  help  me  ?  "  cries  the  man  who 
has  not  made  God  his  trust.  No  voice  answers.  No  kind 
hand,  able  to  support,  is  held  out  to  him.  He  goes  down 
alone,  in  all  that  darkness,  through  all  that  awful  way — 
all  alone.  The  world  has  left  him.  His  candle  has  gone 
out.  The  waters  get  deeper  and  deeper.  Not  a  ray  of 
light.  Oh!  how  dreadful  so  to  die.  To  leave  all  behind; 
to  have  nothing  to  go  to  in  eternity — no  refuge  in  God, 
no  portion  in  Christ.  Where  is  his  neighbor?  Is  he 
alone?  Hear  him !  "  My  soul  followeth  hard  after  thee; 
thy  right  hand  upholdeth  me."  "The  Lord  is  my  shep- 
herd; I  shah1  not  want."  It  is  the  shadow  of  death, 
but  its  darkness  is  turned  to  day.  It  is  a  strange  path, 
but  his  Saviour  has  trodden  it  before  him,  and  taken 
away  all  its  terrors.  It  will  soon  open  upon  his  home 
and  rest.  Deeper  and  deeper  he  descends.  Earnestly 
and  peacefully  his  spirit  says,  "  I  will  fear  no  evil,  for  thy 
rod  and  thy  staff  they  comfort  me."  The  deep  waters 
now  threaten  to  overwhelm  him.  A  voice  whispers, 
"  When  thou  passest  through  the  waters,  I  will  be  with 
thee."  He  knows  his  shepherd's  voice,  and  answers,  "I 


THE  CHRISTIAN  NOT  OF  THE  WORLD.  209 

will  trust,  and  not  be  afraid."  His  sins  assail  him;  his 
unworthiness  stares  him  in  the  face,  and  would  paralyze 
his  hope.  He  answers,  "I  know  in  whom  I  have  believed, 
and  that  he  is  able  to  save  me  to  the  uttermost." 
"  Precious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  is  the  death  of  his 
saints."  Jordan  divides  before  his  people,  going  to  their 
heavenly  Canaan.  Its  floods  overwhelm  those  who,  being 
not  of  the  true  Israel,  are  of  the  ivorld. 

And  now,  as  we  are  all  soon  to  need  all  the  help  and 
consolation  we  can  get,  let  each  of  us  ask  himself,  to 
which  class  do  I  belong?  Of  the  world  or  not?  There  is 
no  neutral  position. 

To  those  who  know  where  they  belong,  and  that  the  world 
is  their  all — allow  me  a  few  kind,  earnest  words.  My 
dear  friends,  I  have  endeavored  to  set  before  you  the 
real,  the  essential  difference  between  your  spiritual  state 
and  that  of  God's  people.  You  see  that  it  is  no  inciden- 
tal thing,  but  a  radical  difference  of  spiritual  being.  Their 
bread  is  not  your  bread.  Their  chief  happiness  is  not  hap- 
piness to  "you.  Their  chief  desires  have  no  place  in  you. 
Their  God  is  not  your  God;  your  god  is  not  theirs.  The 
difference  is  appalling.  What  can  remove  it  on  your  part  ? 
How  can  you  be  as  they?  Do  I  hear  you  say,  "Sup- 
pose we  should  become  more  serious  and  thoughtful,  as 
regards  religion;  less  interested  with  the  idols  of  the 
world;  more  sensible  of  the  emptiness  of  all  earthly  things; 
more  secluded  and  circumspect  ?  And  suppose  we  should 
be  unfailing  in  attendance  on  all  religious  services,  private 
and  public,  would  this  translate  us  into  the  condition  of 
those  who  are  not  of  the  world?"  I  answer,  all  this  only 
reaches  the  outer  man.  You  might  shut  yourselves  up 

14 


210  SERMON  IX. 

in  a  monastery,  and  by  a  process  of  self  destruction,  be- 
come, in  a  sense,  dead  to  the  world;  but  it  does  not  follow 
that  you  would  be  alive  unto  God.  Bodily  sickness,  even, 
may  easily  make  the  world,  and  all  in  it,  seem  exceedingly 
distasteful,  but  it  cannot  make  us  hunger  and  thirst  after 
God  and  holiness.  What,  then,  must  you  do  ?  I  go  to 
the  foundation.  There  is  but  one  answer.  "  Ye  must  be 
born  again"  Nothing  will  do  but  a  neiv  heart.  The  differ- 
ence is  in  moral  nature.  Nothing  but  an  entire  change  of 
moral  nature  will  abolish  it.  The  gradual  brightening  of 
a  worldly  state  into  a  spiritual,  is  just  as  impossible  as  to 
burnish  brass  into  gold.  They  want  a  common  base ;  they 
can  never  be  one.  Your  only  way  is  to  stop  where  you 
are ;  begin  life  anew ;  seek  the  renewing  of  the  Spirit  of 
God.  Go  down  to  the  beginning  of  childhood ;  arise  from 
thence  to  be  the  people  of  God.  Begin  to  serve  him,  by 
obtaining  the  new  birth  by  his  grace.  "Except  ye  be 
converted,  and  become  as  little  children,  ye  cannot  see  the 
kingdom  of  God."  He  is  mighty  to  create  you  anew. 
He  is  merciful  to  hear  your  cry,  when  you  entreat  him  to 
do  so.  Seek  till  you  find. 

To  my  brethren,  who,  as  professed  disciples  of  Christ, 
are  professedly  not  of  the  world,  let  me  say — Strive  to 
keep  so  far  beyond  the  separating  line,  to  have  so  strong 
a  sense  of  having  your  hearts  fixed  on  "  the  things  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,"  that  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  search  for 
evidence  of  what  you  are,  when  the  time  of  trial  shall  re- 
quire the  most  ready  and  positive  consciousness  of  being 
the  living  children  of  God.  "  To  be  spiritually  minded  is 
life  and  peace."  The  more  of  that  mind,  the  more  evi- 
dence of  spiritual  life;  the  more  enjoyment  of  the  peace 
of  God. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  NOT  OF  THE  WORLD.  211 

But  consider  the  importance  of  living  thus  evidently 
not  of  the  world,  with  reference  to  the  benefit  of  your 
example.  Your  profession,  at  its  lowest  terms,  is  a  high 
profession.  To  be  not  of  the  world,  while  in  it,  a  people 
of  a  new  heart  and  another  home,  with  affections  set  on 
God,  is  a  high  profession  in  such  a  world  as  this.  Your 
walk  should  manifest  its  truth.  How  impressive  must  it 
be  to  the  worldly,  who  have  nothing  beyond  this  world, 
when  they  see  in  Christians  that  decided  love  of  heavenly 
things,  that  cheerful  renunciation  of  whatever  on  earth  is 
inconsistent  with  a  spiritual  mind;  that  comfort  in  present 
trials,  derived  from  eternal  prospects;  that  evident  feeling^ 
that  here  they  have  no  continuing  city,  but  are  seeking 
one  to  come,  which  so  properly  belongs  to  their  pro- 
fession, as  followers  of  Christ.  Such  examples  are  con- 
stant sermons.  You  know  how  it  is  when  people  emigrate 
to  new  countries,  leaving  the  land  of  their  birth  for  what 
they  think  a  better  land ;  how  it  affects  their  neighbors, 
and  often  makes  them  dissatisfied  till  they  go  also.  So  the 
effect  will  often  be  upon  people  of  the  world,  when  it  is 
plain,  in  the  spirit  and  walk  of  their  friends  and  neigh- 
bors, especially  their  dearest  relatives,  that  they  have  left 
the  world,  and  are  now  but  strangers  here,  and  are  press- 
ing on  towards  the  heritage  of  the  people  of  God.  Men 
may  never  go  where  other  preaching  can  reach  them. 
Sermons  in  the  pulpit,  sermons  in  books,  they  can  avoid; 
but  such  living  sermons  they  cannot  escape.  They  go 
wherever  they  go,  and  are  perpetually  saying  to  them, 
"Why  stand  ye  here  all  the  day  idle?  Come  away. 
Go  with  us.  The  good  land  is  inviting  you,  as  well  as 
us.  This  is  all  barren ;  that  is  all  life.  Here  you  must 


212  SERMON  IX. 

perish ;  there  you  will  live  forever."  And  that  silent  ser- 
mon will  be  felt.  It  often  unnerves  the  hardest  heart. 
And,  by  the  blessing  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  honoring  the 
preaching  of  the  word  in  the  examples  of  his  people, 
many  are  thus  made  unwilling  to  put  up  with  the  world, 
and  are  finally  persuaded  to  put  in  their  lot  with  those 
who  have  renounced  it,  for  the  inheritance  incorruptible 
and  undefiled,  saying,  "Whither  you  go,  we  will  go;  your 
people  shall  be  our  people,  and  your  God  our  God." 


SERMON  X. 

THE  TRUE   ESTIMATE   OF   LIFE. 


PSALM  xc.  12. 

"  So  teach  us  to  number  our  days,  that  we  may  apply  our  hearts  unto  wisdom." 

THE  Psalmist  prayed  for  the  teaching  of  God  in  number- 
ing his  days.  What  days,  and  what  sort  of  numbering 
did  he  mean  ?  Did  he  refer  to  his  days  that  were  past  ? 
But  surely  he  could  easily  count  them,  without  higher 
help  than  that  of  his  own  memory.  He  knew  his  own 
age.  Did  he  refer  then  to  days  yet  to  come  ?  But  how 
could  he  have  expected  to  be  able  to  number  those  days? 
Or  how  could  he  pray  to  be  taught  to  number  days,  the 
number  of  which  God  purposely,  and  in  great  wisdom, 
conceals  from  all  men?  What  then  could  he  have 
meant  ?  It  is  manifest,  that  whether  he  referred  to  days 
past  or  future,  he  was  speaking  of  numbering  them  in  a 
sense  very  different  from  the  mere  arithmetical  estimate 
of  how  many  they  had  been  or  would  be.  It  was  a  num- 
bering such  as  mere  numbers  could  not  make.  It  was  a 
numbering  that  was  not  to  be  satisfied  with  ascertaining 
how  long  he  had  lived  or  was  to  live.  It  required  a  higher 
calculus,  and  it  could  not  be  effectively  accomplished  with- 
out help  from  God.  We  understand  him  as  if  he  had 
said  in  his  prayer,  Teach  me  in  my  meditations  upon  the 


214  SERMON  X. 

life  I  have  already  past,  and  upon  the  shortness,  and  un 
certainty,  and  infinite  interests  dependent  on  the  days 
yet  to  be  lived  in  this  world — teach  me  to  become  so  deep- 
ly impressed  with  the  view  of  the  time  already  lost,  and 
the  need  of  diligence  and  faithfulness  in  improving  the 
time  yet  to  come,  as  a  steward  of  God,  as  one  who  is  soon 
to  be  called  into  judgment,  as  an  immortal  soul  seeking 
eternal  life;  that  I  may  be  led  to  apply  my  heart,  my 
whole  heart,  to  that  only  true  wisdom — thy  service,  oh !  my 
God-and  the  securing  of  thy  peace  and  blessedness  forever ! 
Ah !  brethren,  there  is  need  to  pray  for  divine  teaching 
in  the  study  of  that  lesson.  There  is  heart-work  as  well 
as  head-work  to  be  done.  To  apply  the  heart  unto  wisdom, 
we  must  first  apply  our  hearts  unto  God  in  supplication. 
We  need  a  mind  enlightened  by  his  Spirit,  to  be  enabled 
to  take  a  right  view  of  days  that  are  gone,  their  lessons 
of  humiliation,  of  repentance,  of  warning,  of  thankful- 
ness, of  faith.  We  need  wisdom  from  above,  to  be  ena- 
bled so  to  contemplate  the  future — the  future  of  this  life, 
and  the  future  of  the  world  to  come — all  that,  between 
this  and  the  grave,  of  which  we  know  nothing  but  that 
"the  time  is  short; "  all  that  beyond  the  grave  which  is 
"unseen  and  eternal;"  so  to  number  those  endless  days; 
so  to  measure  the  infinite  interests  at  stake  and  the  time 
given  us  to  secure  them;  so  to  see  the  days  of  this  life 
in  comparison,  and  in  their  connection,  with  the  days  of 
the  life  of  the  world  to  come,  that  we  may  not  sleep  as  do 
others,  but  be  giving  all  diligence,  redeeming  the  time, 
working  while  it  is  called  to-day,  lest  we  fail  of  the 
life  eternal.  Such  numbering  of  our  days,  we  desire 
now  to  attempt.  We  would  undertake  it  in  prayerful 


THE   TRUE  ESTIMATE   OF   LIFE.  215 

dependence  on  the  help  of  the  Lord.     May  his  teaching 
guide  the  preacher  and  bless  the  hearer ! 

Let  us  begin  with  our  days  that  are  past.  But  how 
shall  we  number  them?' — on  what  system — by  what  rule  ? 
What  standard  of  measurement  shall  we  adopt  ?  Let  us 
take  the  great  work  of  life,  and  measure  by  that.  What 
is  it?  The  service  of  God;  the  salvation  of  the  soul! 
Life  is  given,  life  is  preserved,  for  that  work  only.  It  can 
be  measured  by  none  other.  Every  other  line  deceives. 
Days  have  no  right  to  be  called  days  of  life,  that  have 
not  been  spent  in  that  work.  Many  men  are  dead  while 
they  live ;  their  natural  life  is  all  spiritual  death.  The 
man  who  has  just  begun  to  serve  God,  "in  spirit  and  in 
truth,"  has  already  lived  a  longer  term  of  real  life  than 
all  his  life  before,  because  he  has  now  begun  the  true  life, 
for  the  one  end  of  all  life.  He  is  "alive  unto  God"  In 
this  respect,  as  there  is  an  essential  difference  between 
those  who  live  unto  God  and  those  who  do  not;  so  there 
is  often  a  very  important  difference  among  those  whom 
we  must  believe  to  be  truly  God's  people.  Some  of  them 
seem  just  to  live.  The  most  you  can  say  of  them  is,  that 
they  are  not  spiritually  dead.  The  reality  of  life  is  too 
feeble  in  them  to  give  them  any  but  a  doubtful  experience 
of  the  power  of  godliness  and  the  blessedness  of  the  love 
of  God  in  Christ.  The  root  of  the  matter  is  in  them,  but  it 
is  little  nourished  by  the  word  of  truth  and  faithful  prayer. 
Weeds  of  earthly  growth  are  all  about  it.  The  cold  shade 
of  worldly  conformity  keeps  away  the  cherishing  influence 
of  the  sun.  There  is  no  vigor,  nor  activity,  nor  lively 
enjoyment  of  the  spiritual  life.  The  fruit  is  scanty — just 
enough  to  indicate  life.  Such  days  count  but  little.  In 


216  SERMON   X. 

other  Christians,  religion  is  the  active  out-working  of  a 
heart  earnestly  aspiring  after  more  conformity,  in  all  its 
affections,  to  God's  will  and  holiness ;  a  heart  of  prayer,  of 
love,  of  zeal,  of  labor,  of  joy  and  peace  in  believing ;  the 
tree  is  constantly  and  rapidly  growing  in  root,  and  branch, 
and  fruit,  drinking  at  every  leaf  of  the  aliment  which 
every  breeze  brings  to  it,  and  every  morning  dew  deposits 
upon  it.  Such  Christian  life  counts  rapidly.  Every  day 
adds  to  the  numbering.  No  days  are  blank.  A  year  of 
such  life  is  a  longer  life;  tells  more  upon  the  business  of 
life;  lays  up  more  treasure  in  heaven;  does  more  for  the 
glory  of  God;  contains  more  of  the  light  and  joy  of  life, 
than  a  whole  long  life  of  such  slow,  lukewarm,  undecided, 
half-worldly,  unaspiring,  down-hearted,  dust-grovelling  re- 
ligion as  many  are  contented  with,  from  whom  we  could 
not  withdraw  the  name  of  Christian. 

With  the  aid  of  this  arithmetic,  let  us  measure  the 
past.  Let  me  first  address  those  who  trust  they  have 
been  born  again,  and  have  thus  begun  a  new  and  spiritual 
life.  My  Christian  brethren,  what  was  all  that  portion  of 
your  days  which  elapsed  before  you  thus  began  to  live  ? 
What  shall  we  call  it  in  our  present  reckoning  ?  Was  it 
a  time  of  life,  or  of  death?  What  shall  we  call  those 
days  of  worldliness,  but  days  of  vanity  and  delusion ;  days 
of  blindness  and  infatuation ;  days  of  ingratitude,  and 
disobedience,  and  hardness  of  heart,  and  impenitence, 
never  to  be  remembered  but  with  self-abasement  before 
God,  and  with  wonder  and  praise  that  his  long  suffering 
spared  you  to  out-live  them  ?  But  taking  your  position 
at  that  great  era  in  your  existence,  when  you  were  brought 
to  life,  by  being  brought  to  God,  endeavor  to  form  some 


THE  TRUE   ESTIMATE   OF   LIFE.  217 

idea  how  much  of  your  subsequent  days  should  be  num- 
bered in  such  an  estimate  as  we  are  now  forming.  How 
old  are  you,  as  Christians,  in  growth  of  grace,  in  victory 
over  the  world,  in  works  of  righteouness,  in  labors  of  love, 
in  preparation  to  die  ?  How  much  of  your  time  have  you 
wasted  ?  In  how  much  have  you  been  faithful  stewards 
of  the  mercies  and  gifts  of  God?  What  return  have  you 
made  for  the  love  of  Him,  whose  whole  life  on  earth,  and 
whose  bitter  death  were  for  you  ?  Seen  from  a  death-bed, 
seen  from  eternity,  how  do  your  days  appear?  How 
much  dross  will  He  find  mixed  up  with  the  genuine  gold, 
who  shall  come  to  purify  his  people  and  "  refine  them  as 
gold  and  silver  are  refined?  "  Oh!  what  a  soul-humbling 
view  does  this  method  of  numbering  our  days,  bring  to  a 
Christian;  how  it  diminishes  his  real  life  to  a  humiliating 
remnant  of  life,  as  ore  out  of  the  mine,  when  the  fire 
separates  the  gold ;  how  it  shows  him  the  need  of  a  con- 
trite heart  for  his  best  days,  and  of  the  atoning  blood  of 
Christ,  lest  his  best  deeds  and  moments  should  bring  him 
into  condemnation.  Ah !  brethren,  while  you  look  to 
yourselves  for  humiliation,  you  must  look  away  from  your- 
selves for  consolation.  Other  refuge  have  we  none,  but 
the  boundless  mercy  of  God,  through  the  intercession  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Jesus,  Saviour  of  my  soul,  let  me 
to  thy  bosom  fly ! 

But  I  must  call  another  class  of  my  hearers  to  the 
numbering  of  their  days — those  who  are  conscious  that 
they  have  no  title  to  the  character  of  God's  servants. 
My  friends,  what  is  the  just  estimate  of  your  past  days ; 
how  many  of  them  will  bear  examination  by  the  light  of 
that  day  which  shall  drive  away  all  delusions  and  dreams, 


218  SERMON  X. 

as  the  sun  dispels  the  mists  of  the  morning  ?  How  long 
have  you  lived?  I  know  an  answer.  Long  enough,  you 
can  say,  to  have  had  abundance  of  time  to  become  ser- 
vants of  God;  long  enough  to  be  blessed  beyond  measure 
with  the  goodness,  the  patience,  the  compassion  of  God ; 
long  enough  to  be  able  to  tell  of  innumerable  privileges 
and  opportunities  of  grace  neglected  and  lost;  long 
enough  to  heap  up  a  fearful  account  of  convictions  unheed- 
ed, light  resisted,  and  calls  of  the  Spirit  of  God  neglected. 
But  is  there  not  another  and  still  more  humiliating  answer? 
Has  not  all  your  life  been  one  of  sin  and  rebellion  against 
God  ?  I  know  it  is  a  hard  saying.  But  the  question  is 
asked  in  tenderness  and  love,  and  let  it  be  considered  in 
simplicity  and  sincerity,  so  that  this  present  numbering  of 
your  days  may  be  as  God  will  number  them  in  the  judg- 
ment. 

But  how  can  your  days  have  been  only  days  of  sin  and 
rebellion  against  God,  when  so  much  that  is  good  and  useful 
to  others,  may  have  resulted  from  them  ?  True,  you  have 
not  been  religious,  but  you  may  have  been  quite  moral 
and  upright,  living  in  the  diligent  discharge  of  the  duties 
of  domestic  life,  and  of  the  social  bond ;  exercising  much 
commendable  kindness  and  benevolence,  and  active  good- 
doing  towards  your  fellow  creatures;  and  are  you  then  to  re- 
gard your  past  lives  as  all  lost  and  all  sin  ?  Mind,  we  are 
speaking  of  lost,  with  reference  to  the  great  end  of  life; 
lost  in  respect  to  the  one  work  given  us  to  do  in  this 
world.  We  are  speaking  of  sin  and  rebellion  against  God, 
as  measured  by  the  simple  rule  of  the  scriptures.  You 
send  a  laborer  into  your  field  to  do  a  certain  work,  to 
which  you  expect  him  to  devote  all  the  day.  He  does 


THE   TRUE   ESTIMATE   OF   LIFE.  219 

many  things  that  are  useful  to  others,  but  your  work  he 
wholly  neglects.  Is  not  his  time  lost  ?  Has  he  not  spent 
his  whole  day  in  sinning  against  your  command,  and  in 
rebellion  against  your  will  ? 

But  the  Saviour  has  given  us  the  best  illustration.  "  A 
certain  man,  (it  is  written,)  had  a  fig  tree  planted  in  his 
vineyard?*  You  are  represented  in  that  favored  tree.  It 
was  "planted;"  there  was  a  purpose  and  object  in  its 
being  where  it  was.  It  was  in  "a  vineyard;"  not  in  the 
open  high  way;  not  on  the  sterile  heath;  but  on  privileged 
ground;  fenced  and  cultivated.  Such  is  your  position. 
God  has  a  purpose  in  your  being  here.  You  have  a  cer- 
tain end  to  answer.  You  are  in  the  midst  of  facilities  for 
that  end.  The  means  of  grace  enrich  the  vineyard  you 
live  in.  The  water  of  life  flows  through  the  midst  of  it. 
But  the  parable  proceeds :  "He  came  and  sought  fruit  there- 
on,  and  found  none"  Such,  also,  is  your  precise  position 
before  God.  With  all  your  opportunities,  and  privileges, 
and  mercies,  knowing  so  well  what  God  expects  of  you, 
and  with  every  motive  to  make  you  comply,  God  seeks 
in  you,  every  day,  the  fruit — the  reasonable  fruit — of  all 
his  care,  and  culture,  and  goodness,  and  he  findeth  none. 
None!  not  a  branch  is  bearing;  not  an  affection  is  devoted 
to  his  service;  no  portion  of  life  has  been  consecrated  to 
him.  The  parable  proceeds :  "  Then  said  he  unto  the  dres- 
ser of  his  vineyard,  lo!  these  three  years  have  I  come  seek- 
ing fruit  on  this  fig  tree,  and  find  none;  cut  it  doivn — why 
cumber eth  it  the  ground  ? " 

Why  cumber  eth  it  the  ground?  Was  it  deserving  of 
such  a  hard  saying  ?  True,  that  tree  had  never  produced 
the  fruit  for  which  it  was  planted,  and  thus  it  had  entirely 


220  SERMON   X. 

* 

failed  in  rendering  any  return  for  its  cultivation.  But  had 
it  done  nothing  else  ?  Had  it  been  entirely  useless  ?  Did 
not  the  fowls  of  the  air  find  a  home  in  its  branches?  Did 
not  the  weary  laborer  find  rest  and  shade  under  its  foliage  ? 
Did  not  its  falling  leaves  enrich  the  soil  for  other  plants 
to  feed  on  ?  Yes ;  but  was  it  planted,  was  it  placed  in  a 
vineyard,  had  it  been  enriched  and  cultivated,  for  such 
ends?  It  failed  in  the  single  object  for  which  it  was 
planted,  and  nourished — -fruit — fruit  after  its  kind.  It 
was  therefore  a  cumberer  of  the  ground,  and  was  deservedly 
cut  down. 

And  is  not  this  exactly  your  case  ?  You  plead  that 
though  you  have  not  returned  to  God  a  life  devoted  to 
his  service,  a  life  of  love  to  him,  and  of  the  following  of 
Christ,  your  days  have  not  been  without  usefulness  in 
various  collateral  relations.  We  deny  it  not.  We  hope  it 
is  true  of  all  of  you,  whom  we  are  now  specially  address- 
ing. But  chat  is  not  the  question.  Has  God  found  in 
you  that  fruit  which  every  year,  every  day,  he  has  sought? 
Where  has  been  your  heart?  On  what  have  your  affec- 
tions been  set?  In  what  have  you  sought  your  happiness  ? 
Where  has  your  treasure  been  ?  Plead  that  you  have  not 
lived  in  vain ;  but  have  you  lived  unto  God  ?  Can  he 
number  your  days  as  days  of  service  to  him,  when  another 
will  than  his  has  held  all  the  mastery  ?  The  voice  of  God 
has  been  following  you  at  every  step,  saying :  "My  son, 
give  me  thy  heart;"  and  never  has  that  voice  been  obey- 
ed; always  has  that  heart,  with  its  whole  energy  of  will 
and  affection,  been  given  to  other  gods,  the  gods  of  the 
vanities  of  this  world;  and  is  it  too  much  then,  my  friends, 
to  say  that  therefore,  as  sure  as  the  barren  fig  tree  was  con- 


THE   TRUE   ESTIMATE   OF   LIFE.  221 

demned  as  a  cumberer  of  the  ground,  your  days  must  be 
numbered  as  only  days  of  sin  and  rebellion  against  God ; 
days  in  which,  while  all  your  life  was  the  gift  of  his  grace, 
and  all  your  blessings  came  from  his  Providence,  and  your 
every  breath  was  from  his  forbearance  and  mercy,  God 
was  practically  rejected,  and  his  will  denied.  Alas !  this 
is  a  fearful  view  of  the  past,  especially  as  you  know  not 
how  shorfc  the  future  will  be  before  it  becomes  eternity.  I 
wish  indeed,  we  had  not  to  say  such  painful  things  to  any 
body.  But  when  they  are  the  solemn  truth,  the  more  we 
love  you,  the  more  must  we  say  them  to  you,  affectionate- 
ly, but  so  plainly  that  as  much  as  possible,  their  painful- 
ness  may  be  felt. 

And  now  we  turn  to  the  future.  What  future  is  there 
to  us,  before  that  endless  future  begins  its  course  ?  How 
many  days  to  come  may  we  number  before  that  life  comes 
that  has  no  days,  or  years,  or  centuries — that  ever  and 
ever,  into  which  all  years,  all  times,  empty  as  rivers  into 
the  ocean  ?  How  long  have  we  yet  to  live  ?  I  mean,  to 
live  here;  for  we  have  always  to  live.  The  Psalmist  pray- 
ed, "Lord,  let  me  know  mine  end  and  the  measure  of  my 
days,  what  it  is,  that  I  may  know  how  frail  I  am."  Our 
end,  the  measure  of  our  days !  Of  course,  in  the  way  of 
numerical  computation,  we  cannot  know  it  now.  But,  in 
the  way  of  a  serious  impression  of  how  near  our  end  is, 
and  how  precious  our  time  is,  we  can  know  what  it  is. 
We  can  do  just  as  the  Psalmist  did.  He  measured  his 
days  by  the  eternity  of  God.  Thus  he  began  :  "  Before 
the  mountains  were  brought  forth,  or  ever  thou  hadst 
formed  the  earth  or  the  world,  even  from  everlasting  to 
everlasting,  thou  art  God."  "  A  thousand  years  in  thy 


222  SERMON   X. 

sight  are  but  as  yesterday  when  it  is  past,  and  as  a  watch 
in  the  night."  A  thousand  years  in  God's  sight,  but  as 
yesterday  1  Yea,  because  God's  measure  of  duration  is 
eternity.  The  Psalmist,  measuring  by  the  same  line,  look- 
ed at  the  longest  age  of  man  on  earth.  "  The  days  of  our 
years  are  threescore  years  and  ten ;  and  if  by  reason  of 
strength  they  be  fourscore  years,  yet  is  their  strength 
labor  and  sorrow,  for  it  is  soon  cut  off  and  we  fly  away." 
"In  the  morning  it  flourisheth  and  groweth  up;  in  the 
evening  it  is  cut  down  and  withered."  *  Thus  did  a  life 
of  fourscore  years  appear,  when  seen  in  the  shadow  of  an 
eternal  future.  Let  us  get  that  same  view.  Suppose 
that  by  reason  of  strength  we  should  lengthen  out  our 
journey  here,  with  labor  and  sorrow,  to  those  four  score  years 
—  How  long  they  look  from  childhood;  how  short  will 
they  look  from  a  death-bed !  How  long  when  we  compare 
them  only  with  shorter  periods,  as  a  year  is  long  compar- 
ed with  an  hour ;  but  how  short,  in  comparison  with  ev- 
erlasting ages !  Oh !  Lord,  so  teach  us  to  number  our  days ; 
so  teach  us  to  feel  their  exceeding  insignificance  as  they 
stand  beside  eternity;  so  teach  us  to  feel  their  unspeakable 
magnitude  and  preciousness  as  days  that  must  decide 
what  we  shall  be,  where  we  shall  be,  what  our  endless 
portion — happiness  with  God,  or  misery  in  banishment  from 
God,  forever  and  ever! 

But  threescore  years  and  ten  !  what  right  have  we  to 
count  on  any  such  length  of  days !  "Boast  not  thyself  of 
to-morrow"  saith  the  warning  voice  of  God's  word,  "for 
thou  Jcnowest  not  what  a  day  may  Iring  forth"  "  Go  to, 
ye  that  say,  to-day  or  to-morrow  2ve  ivill  go  into  such  a  city 

*  Ps.  xc.,  2  and  4  ;  10  and  6. 


THE   TRUE   ESTIMATE  OF   LIFE.  223 

and  continue  there  a  year,  and  luy  and  sell  and  get  gain, 
2vhereas  ye  knoiv  not  what  shall  be  on  the  morrow.  For  what 
is  your  life  ?  It  is  even  a  vapor  which  appeareth  for  a 
little  time  and  then  vanisheth  aivay"  *  What  a  rebuke  to 
your  confident  calculations  upon  years  to  come  !  What  a 
gloomy  shadow  ifc  brings  over  all  the  schemes  of  a  worldly 
mind — the  buying,  and  selling,  and  getting  gain,  and  lay- 
ing up  treasure  on  earth,  and  trying  to  be  happy  without 
hope  in  eternity,  and  without  God  for  a  refuge  and  por- 
tion. Oh  !  what  a  gloomy  cloud  when  you  once  realize, 
as  sometimes  the  most  worldly  mind  is  forced  to  do,  that 
all  of  life  is  such  a  mere  vapor ;  that  its  surest  and  proud- 
est calculations  may  be  so  easily  and  awfully  disappoint- 
ed. Ye  know  not  what  ye  shall  be  on  the  morrow.  Ye 
may  be  dead  on  the  morrow ;  ye  may  be  disembodied 
spirits  on  the  morrow  ;  ye  may  have  received  your  ever- 
lasting condemnation  on  the  morrow ;  ye  may  be  beyond 
the  reach  of  hope  on  the  morrow;  the  eternal  night  of 
darkness  and  of  despair  unutterable  may  have  settled 
down  upon  your  soul,  to-morrow.  Oh  !  that  solemn  warn- 
ing, "Ye  know  not  what  shall  be  on  the  morrow"  so  often 
preached  by  the  funerals  of  those  that  die  unprepared ; 
that  hand-writing  on  the  wall  of  every  earthly  habitation 
which  so  many  are  afraid  to  read,  lest  like  the  King  of 
Babylon  in  his  banqueting  house,  their  thoughts  should 
trouble  them,  and  their  eyes  should  see  too  plainly  the 
vanity  and  folly  of  their  worldly  idolatry;  I  would  that  it 
could  appear  to  you  in  every  temple  of  Mammon,  in  every 
house  of  feasting,  in  every  street  of  business,  in  all  the 
cares  and  interests  and  attractions  of  home,  in  all  scenes 

•  /  *  James  iv.,  13,  1-1. 


224  SERMON   X. 

of  gayety  and  mirth,  everywhere*  And  if  it  be  too  seri- 
ous, too  impressive  a  monitor  to  suit  your  occupation ;  if 
the  zeal  of  any  worldly  scheme,  if  the  gayety  of  any  plea- 
sure, if  the  relish  of  any  amusement,  cannot  bear  to  be  so 
confronted  with  the  uncertainty  of  life  and  the  nearness 
of  the  judgment  to  come;  if  you  could  not  read  that  wri- 
ting of  God  without  feeling  it  an  unwelcome  intrusion 
upon  your  occupation  or  your  pleasure,  out  of  place  be- 
cause not  in  keeping  with  what  you  are  about  ;  then  be 
sure  your  pleasure  or  occupation  is  out  of  place,  not  be- 
fitting, either  in  itself,  or  else  in  the  spirit  in  which  you 
pursue  it,  the  position,  the  relations,  the  interests  of  a 
sinner  whose  days  are  so  few,  and  beneath  whose  feet,  at 
his  next  step,  the  grave  may  open,  Oh !  let  us  try  to  real- 
ize, always  and  everywhere,  what  we  are,  whither  going, 
what  we  have  at  stake,  what  we  have  to  do.  We  speak  of 
dying.  Shall  we  ever  die  ?  Can  we  die  if  we  would  ? 
We  shall  suffer  dissolution.  The  mysterious  bond  between 
body  and  soul  will  be  divided.  We  shall  depart  hence. 
But  we — this  within,  that  thinks,  and  sees,  and  speaks — this 
soul,  will  never  cease  its  thinking,  and  remembering,  and 
enjoying  or  suffering.  It  cannot  die  if  it  would.  Once  em- 
barked in  life,  onward  you  must  go,  living  and  living 
forever  and  ever;  no  door  to  escape  out  of  being;  no 
refuge  from  the  necessity  of  life ;  one  thing  or  other  your 
unchangeable  portion — the  home  of  the  saved,  or  the 
portion  of  the  lost. 

How  can  we  number  the  days  of  such  a  future  ?  There 
is  a  way.  If  we  cannot  compute,  we  can  contemplate. 
We  can  survey  the  ocean,  which  we  cannot  measure ;  we 
can  compare  with  its  boundless  bosom  the  narrow  streams 


THE  TRUE  ESTIMATE  OF  LIFE.  225 

that  empty  therein ;  we  can  consider  the  tides  of  life  that 
are  continually  pouring  their  contributions  of  immortal 
souls  into  that  eternity;  we  can  think  of  all  that  is  beyond 
the  horizon  which  now  bounds  our  view,  and  ah1  that  is 
beneath,  in  those  fathomless  depths  which  no  mortal 
thought  can  penetrate ;  we  can  get  an  impressive  sight  of 
what  is  length  of  days  on  earth,  as  measured  by  the  con- 
trast of  the  life  to  come — a  foot-print  on  an  ocean  shore. 
We  can  thus  obtain  some  view  of  the  preciousness  of  a 
good  hope  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  the  unspeakable  littleness 
of  every  thing  in  comparison.  We  can  so  number  the 
days  of  that  eternal  future,  as  to  form  some  answer  to 
that  question  of  our  Lord,  which  many  dare  not  answer — 
What  shall  it  profit  a  man,  if  he  gain  the  whole  world,  and 
lose  his  oivn  soul?  And  thus,  we  can  realize  something 
of  the  folly  of  the  man  who  makes  this  world  his  portion, 
doing  nothing  to  save  his  soul ;  something  of  the  weighty 
argument  that  enforces  those  constant  exhortations  of  the 
scriptures — "  Be  ye  ready ;  "  "  Prepare  to  meet  your 
God;"  "Labor  not  for  the  meat  which  perisheth,  but  for 
that  which  endureth  unto  everlasting  life;"  "Give  all 
diligence ;  "  "Work  out  your  salvation  with  fear  and  trem- 
bling;" "To-day,  if  ye  will  hear  His  voice,  harden  not 
your  hearts."  One  glance  at  eternity!  a  moment's  draw- 
ing aside  of  the  veil!  with  what  power  would  it  preach 
those  exhortations;  how  it  would  expose  the  folly  of  a, 
worldly  life,  and  convince  you  of  the  preciousness  of  the* 
refuge  that  is  in  Christ! 

Brethren,  must  we  not  all  adopt  the  prayer  of  the  texr>. 
"  So  teach  us  to  number  our  days,  that  we  may  apply  OWE- 
hearts  unto  wisdom  "  ?  Let  our  hearts  be  now  applied  to 

15 


226  SERMON   X. 

the  study,  that  we  may  know  what  the  true  wisdom  is 
for  us. 

Son  of  man,  have  you  secured  a  hope,  in  Christ,  of  ac- 
ceptance with  God?  Are  you  laying  up  treasure  in 
heaven  ?  Have  you  repented,  and  fled  to  Him  who  is 
our  only  refuge  from  the  condemnation  of  sin  ?  Have 
you  the  peace  of  God,  and  are  you  striving  to  retain  it, 
till  he  calls  you  to  his  presence?  What  answers  your  soul 
to  these  questions  ?  "No  ?  I  have  not  found,  I  have  not 
sought,  I  have  not  repented.  Here  I  am,  an  immortal 
soul,  eternity  at  hand,  all  my  work  undone,  all  my  porlion 
here — no  home  to  go  to  when  I  die,  no  Saviour  secured  to 
comfort  and  save  when  I  go  hence — all  God's  mercies  to 
be  accounted  for,  all  his  will  undone."  Then,  poor  sinful 
man,  what  is  the  wisdom  to  which  thy  heart  should  be  ap- 
plied? Art  thou  willing  to  meet  death  in  such  a  state  ? 
Canst  thou  stand  before  God  in  such  a  state  ?  Ah  !  how 
dreadful  to  have  your  day  of  grace  ended  in  such  a  state. 

What  is  wisdom?  One  thing  is  wisdom  for  thee;  all 
else  is  foolishness,  in  comparison.  Apply  thine  heart  in- 
stantly, earnestly,  entirely,  to  the  effort  to  obtain  the 
peace  of  God,  through  that  merciful  and  compassionate 
Saviour,  who  waits  to  receive  your  petitions,  to  help  your 
infirmities,  to  cleanse  you  from  your  sins,  and  to  embrace 
you  in  his  love.  May  I  not  entreat  you,  in  the  name  of 
that  poor  soul  which  you  have  so  neglected ;  in  the  name 
of  that  eternal  portion  of  bliss  or  woe  which  you  have  so 
much  forgotten ;  in  the  name  of  that  God  whose  peace  is 
so  precious,  whose  wrath  is  a  consuming  lire ;  in  the  name 
of  Jesus,  that  most  gracious  Saviour,  whose  love  and 
sufferings  for  you  have  been  so  ungratefully  slighted; 


THE  TRUE  ESTIMATE  OF  LIFE.  227 

must  I  not  entreat  you,  delay  no  more.  Seek  eternal 
life,  while  it  may  be  attained ;  escape  the  wrath  to  come, 
before  it  be  come  ;  do  the  work  of  him  that  sent  you,  be- 
fore he  shall  send  for  you  to  give  account  of  your  work ; 
cease  to  cumber  the  ground  with  barrenness,  lest  barren- 
ness and  hopelessness  be  your  portion  forever.  Oh !  seek 
your  endless  portion  in  Christ.  Bring  that  sin-fettered, 
world-oppressed  soul  to  Christ !  He  will  set  it  free. 
Bring  that  poor,  wearied,  burdened,  disappointed  heart,  to 
Christ  1  He  will  give  it  rest.  Dying  sinner,  whose  days 
are  numbered,  and  whose  sins  have  brought  on  you  the 
condemnation  of  God,  flee  to  Christ,  and  he  will  be  to 
you  a  hope  that  maketh  not  ashamed,  and  a  peace  that 
passeth  understanding. 

My  Christian  brethren — ye  who  hope  in  Christ,  and 
trust  you  are  his — what  is  the  lesson  for  you  in  the  views 
we  have  been  taking?  What  is  the  wisdom  to  which 
your  hearts  should  be  applied?  I  answer,  the  wisdom  of 
a  greater  earnestness  in  the  whole  work  and  life  of  a  dis- 
ciple of  Christ.  It  is  a  short  time  you  have  to  live  for 
the  glory  of  your  Lord  in  this  evil  world.  It  is  a  short 
time  you  have  to  do  good,  where  there  is  so  much  evil ; 
and  to  seek  the  salvation  of  your  fellow  creatures,  where 
so  many  are  perishing.  It  is  a  short  time  ye  have  to  get 
ready  to  meet  death  as  Christians  should  meet  it,  rejoicing 
in  Christ  your  Saviour,  and  feeling  that  death  hath  no 
sting  remaining,  nor  the  grave  any  fears.  Ye  are  pre- 
pared to  die,  if  ye  be  in  Christ  Jesus;  but  ye  may  not  be 
so  prepared  as  to  feel  prepared.  Your  sense  of  a  good 
hope  may  not  be  strong.  Your  evidence  of  being  in 
Christ  may  not  be  such  as  to  free  your  minds  from  many 


228  SERMON  X. 

painful  doubts  which  you  would  fear  to  encounter  on  a 
death  bed.  We  want  to  go  down  into  the  valley  and 
shadow  of  death  with  our  hope  all  determined,  our  conso- 
lation all  ascertained;  no  need  of  an  anxious  examination 
of  evidence;  no  room  for  a  painful  suspicion  that  we 
have  been  crying  peace,  when  there  was  no  peace.  We 
want  to  be  found  prepared,  not  only  to  go  safely,  but  joy- 
fully; not  only  alive  unto  God,  but  looking  for,  and 
hasting  unto,  that  day,  when  he  shall  call  us  hence. 
We  want  to  be  found  with  our  loins  girt  about,  as  servants 
waiting  for  their  Lord;  with  our  staif  in  hand,  as  pilgrims 
waiting  to  go  home ;  with  our  lamps  trimmed  and  burning, 
as  the  wise  waiting  for  the  coming  of  Him  who  saith,  "  I 
come  quickly"  Christian  brethren,  apply  your  hearts  to 
such  wisdom.  Seek  to  become  more  weaned  from  the 
world.  Endeavor  to  make  the  most  profitable  investment 
of  your  remaining  days,  and  of  the  talents  entrusted  to 
you,  for  the  good  of  man  and  the  glory  of  your  Lord. 
Practise  constantly  on  the  rule  of  looking,  not  at  the 
things  that  are  seen  and  temporal,  but  at  those  which 
are  not  seen  and  eternal.  Live,  and  pray,  and  work,  as 
those  whose  eyes  are  thus  opened  and  thus  elevated;  who 
see  in  open  vision  the  things  eternal — the  unseen  God, 
the  unseen  glory  of  his  people,  the  eternal  misery  of  the 
lost.  Seek  a  bright  and  shining  hope;  seek  a  strong 
faith,  that  lays  hold  vigorously  on  the  promises,  and  puts 
on  the  whole  armor  of  God,  and  stands  complete  in  "  the 
righteousness  which  is  of  God,  by  faith."  Be  it  your 
every  day's  work  to  apply  your  hearts  to  that  wisdom. 
You  will  reap  if  you  faint  not.  The  hour  of  your  death 
will  be  your  recompense. 


THE  TRUE  ESTIMATE  OF  LIFE.  229 

Brethren,  friends — all — we  must  all  pray  to  be  taught 
of  God,  or  we  shall  never  learn  from  the  solemn  lessons 
we  have  been  considering.  What  I  have  said  to  you  to- 
day, how  often  have  you  heard  before,  and  with  how  little 
benefit.  How  often  have  your  days  been  numbered  before 
you,  so  that  you  have  seen  the  shortness  of  your  time 
and  your  eternity  just  at  hand,  and  have  felt  the  exceed- 
ing folly  of  a  careless,  worldly  life,  and  have  turned  away 
and  continued  the  same  careless,  worldly  life,  as  if  the  fu- 
ture were  all  a  dream,  and  the  present  were  all  the  reality. 
These  world-blinded  hearts,  these  sin-palsied  hearts,  how 
slow  to  learn  in  such  a  school.  To  read  the  page  is  easy. 
To  understand  the  truth,  and  take  it  away  in  your  mem- 
ory, is  easy.  But  to  have  it  written  in  our  hearts ;  to  get 
its  impression,  and  keep  it,  so  that  it  shall  abide  in  us;  so 
to  learn  the  lesson,  that  we  shall  learn  by  it,  and  be  wise 
in  heart,  unto  salvation;  for  this  we  must  not  trust  our- 
selves; we  must  pray;  we  must  apply  our  hearts  unto 
Him  who  alone  giveth  wisdom;  we  must  take  the  lesson 
to  the  engraver,  and  beg  Him  who  can  write  his  law  in 
our  inward  parts,  to  grave  it  upon  our  hearts,  so  that 
nothing  shall  erase  it,  and  so  it  shall  speak  to  us  by  the 
wayside  and  the  fireside,  in  our  business  and  in  our  enjoy- 
ments, in  solitude  and  in  company — everywhere ;  keep- 
ing us  solemnly  in  mind  that  the  end  of  all  things  is  at 
hand;  ever  urging  us  to  count  all  things  but  loss  for 
Christ,  that  we  may  be  found  in  him.  Oh !  yes,  we  must 
pray — Lord  teach  us  so  to  number  our  days,  so  to  ap- 
ply our  hearts!  We  must  pray  for  one  another.  We 
must  pray  for  the  careless  and  unconcerned.  We  must 
pray  for  those  who  pray  not  for  themselves.  What  we  all 


230  SERMON   X. 

need  is,  seeing  "the  time  is  short,"  and  "the  fashion  of 
this  world  passeth  away,"  that  "they  that  weep  be  as  though 
they  wept  not ;  and  they  that  rejoice  as  though  they  re- 
joiced not;  and  they  that  buy  as  though  they  bought 
not;  and  they  that  use  this  world,  as  not  abusing  it." 
We  want,  not  only  an  abiding  sense  of  the  shortness  of 
our  time  remaining  for  our  great  work,  but  an  humble, 
contrite  sense  of  how  the  time  past  condemns  us  for  our 
unprofitableness,  and  a  solemn  sense  of  the  unutterable 
worth  of  the  soul  that  each  of  us  has  to  save,  with  such 
a  spirit  of  earnest  application  of  life,  and  love,  and 
strength,  to  the  following  of  Christ,  that  we  certainly 
shall  not  come  short  of  the  inheritance  of  his  saints. 
Lord,  so  teach  us.  Write  that  law  of  life  on  our  hearts. 
Evermore  give  us  that  wisdom.  Help  us  to  be  ever 
pressing  "  toward  the  mark,  for  the  prize  of  our  high  call- 
ing of  God,  in  Christ  Jesus."  So  teach  us  always  to 
pray,  and  always  to  learn  !  Amen. 


SEBMON XL 

THE    NATURE    AND    EFFICACY    OF   SAVING   FAITH, 


JOHN  iii.  36. 

"He  that  beleveth   on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life  ;  and  he  that  believeth 
not  the  Son,  shall  not  see  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him." 

NONE  who  read  the  scriptures  can  fail  to  notice  how  much 
is  there  made  of  faith)  as  essential  to  a  truly  religious 
life,  and  the  salvation  of  the  soul.  The  jailor  of  Philippi 
rushes  in  fear  and  trembling  before  his  prisoners,  Paul  and 
Silas,  and  begs  to  know  what  he  must  do  to  be  saved. 
Their  simple  answer  is,  "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  thou  shalt  be  saved."  A  poor  blind  man  pushes  his 
way  through  a  crowd,  and  gets  to  Jesus,  begging  that  his 
eyes  may  be  opened.  Jesus  grants  his  prayer,  opens  his 
eyes,  and  then  ascribes  all  to  his  faith.  "Thy  faith  hath 
saved  thee."  Our  blessed  Lord  sends  his  apostles  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,  and  underwrites  their 
commission  with  these  emphatic  words:  "He  that  believeth 
shall  be  saved ;  and  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned. " 
But  for  strength  of  declaration  on  this  head,  we  need  not 
look  any  further  than  the  text:  "He  that  believeth  on  the 
Son  hath  life;  and  he  that  believeth  not  the  Son,  shall  not 
see  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him."  You  see 
how  directly  and  essentially  everlasting  life  is  here  con- 
nected with  the  possession  of  faith  in  Christ.  He  that 


232  SERMON   XI. 

has  a  true  faith  in  Christ,  is  now  in  possession  of  life 
eternal.  He  who  has  it  not,  is  now  abiding  under  the 
wrath  of  God. 

Now,  we  should  not  think  much  of  the  reflecting  dis- 
position of  that  man,  who,  accustomed  to  the  usual 
thoughts  on  the  subject  of  saving  faith,  had  never  been 
struck  with  something  pparently  so  peculiar,  so  unlike 
what  we  are  accustomed  to  in  all  other  interests  of  man, 
in  this  absolute  dependence  of  everlasting  life  and  death 
singly  on  the  possession  of  faith  in  Christ,  as  to  have  felt 
there  was  a  difficulty  which  he  would  much  desire  to  have 
removed.  I  suppose  there  is  a  large  number  of  minds, 
among  the  respectful  hearers  of  the  gospel,  who  are  con- 
scious, all  the  time,  of  a  want  of  satisfaction  on  that 
subject;  and  another  class,  among  serious  and  earnest 
Christians,  to  whom,  while  it  may  present  no  difficulty,  it 
is  a  subject  about  which  they  feel  that  they  have  little  to 
say,  except  that  it  is  the  plan  of  Him  who  is  infinitely 
wise  and  merciful,  thus  to  make  believing  in  Jesus  the 
turning  point  of  life  or  death  to  the  sinner's  soul. 

We  desire  to  show  that  there  is  much  more  to  be  said 
than  that;  that  faith  is  not  so  peculiar  in  its  connection 
with  salvation,  nor  so  unlike  its  position  in  all  other  con- 
cerns of  man,  as  is  much  imagined;  that  the  exceedingly 
prominent  and  essential  position  assigned  to  faith,  in  the 
economy  of  our  salvation,  and  in  all  the  Christian  life,  in- 
stead of  having  no  parallel  in  other  interests  of  man,  is  in 
precise  conformity  with  what  we  are  familiar  with  in  all 
other  human  interests;  so  that,  from  all  our  connections 
with  nature  and  Providence,  from  all  our  worldly  concerns 
and  relations,  we  should  have  had  reason  to  anticipate 


THE  NATURE  AND  EFFICACY  OF  SAVING  FAITH.  233 

that  the  place  and  function  of  faith,  in  all  our  spiritual 
interests,  would  be  just  what  the  scriptures  represent  it. 

But  I  must  first  correct  a  prevalent,  but  very  errone- 
ous idea,  of  the  nature  of  the  faith  required  in  the  Gospel. 
It  is  a  common  supposition,  arising  out  of  the  great 
things  attributed  to  faith  in  the  scriptures,  such  as  the 
believer's  union  to  Christ,  his  justification  in  the  right- 
eousness of  Christ,  his  victory  over  the  world,  &c.,  that 
it  is  some  principle  of  the  regenerate  heart,  so  peculiar, 
so  entirely  above  nature,  and  so  exclusively  pertaining  to 
the  Gospel,  that  there  is  nothing  elsewhere  corresponding 
to,  or  partaking  of,  its  character.  That  there  is  such 
a  thing  as  faith  between  man  and  man,  in  the  ordinary 
concerns  of  human  life,  is  of  course  understood;  .but  the 
idea  is,  that  between  such  natural  faith,  and  that  of  the 
Christian  believer,  successfully  prosecuting  the  work  of 
his  salvation,  there  is  nothing  in  common.  Faith  that 
saves  the  soul,  through  Christ,  we  know  is  asserted  in  the 
scriptures  to  be  "the  gift  of  God"*  It  is  therefore  sup- 
posed that  it  must  be  unlike,  in  all  things,  that  faith 
which  is  only  the  gift  of  nature. 

We  shall  take  good  heed,  that  in  correcting  this  idea, 
we  do  not,  in  the  slightest  degree,  reduce  your  conception 
of  saving  faith,  as  being  never  a  natural  endowment  of  the 
human  heart,  and  never  attainable  by  man  without  the 
converting  grace  of  God;  never  attained  but  by  the  di- 
rect act  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  man's  mind  and  heart, 
convincing  him  of  his  ruined  state  as  a  sinner,  condemned 
under  the  law  of  God;  revealing  to  him  the  preciousness 
of  Christ,  as  his  only  and  perfect  refuge,  and  enabling 

*Eph.  ii.  8. 


234  SERMON  XI. 

him  to  embrace  and  rest  thereon  with  a  joyful  hope  of 
salvation.  Faith  is  thus  most  truly  and  exclusively  "the 
gift  of  God"  But  must  we  not  say  the  same  of  love  to 
God?  Is  not  the  love  in  which  all  the  law  is  fulfilled, 
and  which,  in  its  various  degrees  of  perfectness,  is  the 
sum  and  substance  of  all  piety,  as  much  the  gift  of  God 
as  saving  faith?  And  yet,  do  any  suppose  that  it  is  a 
grace  so  peculiar  to  vital  religion,  so  entirely  supernatural, 
that  in  the  natural  man  there  is  no  corresponding  affec- 
tion? Is  not  the  love  of  a  dutiful  son  to  an  affectionate 
father  an  emotion  very  nearly  corresponding  to  that  of  a 
child  of  God  towards  his  Father  in  heaven  ?  Must  we 
have  an  entirely  new  affection  created  within  us,  before 
we  can  love  God ;  or  only  an  old  natural  affection  made 
new  by  having  a  new  heart  given  to  it;  made  new  by  be- 
ing transferred  from  the  creature  to  the  Creator,  and  set 
upon  our  Father  in  heaven?  And  when,  according  to  the 
scriptures,  we  hold,  that  the  love  of  God  in  our  hearts 
cometh  only  by  the  gift  of  his  Spirit  working  in  us,  what 
is  meant,  but  that  the  affection  of  love,  implanted  in  us  by 
nature,  and  kept,  by  the  bondage  of  our  fallen  nature, 
grovelling  amidst  earthly  things,  and  incapable  of  ascend- 
ing to  God,  has  been,  by  the  power  of  his  Spirit,  regen- 
erated, purified,  and  exalted,  so  that  what  was  before 
only  the  supreme  love  of  the  world,  and  the  things  there- 
in, is  now  the  supreme  love  of  God  and  his  will.  In  a  few 
words,  to  love  is  the  gift  of  nature.  To  love  God  is  the 
gift  of  grace. 

Now,  precisely  what  we  have  said  of  the  nature  and 
peculiarity  of  the  love  of  God  in  the  heart,  is  equally 
true  of  a  saving  faith  in  Christ.  In  our  unregenerate 


THE  NATURE  AND  EFFICACY   OF   SAVING  FAITH.        235 

state,  faith  is  as  universal  as  love;  The  child  trusts  in 
his  m  ther  as  naturally  as  he  loves  her.  Mutual  reliance 
is  as  natural  between  man  and  man  as  mutual  love. 
This  reliance  is  nothing  lout  faith,  in  its  entire  definition. 
And  the  difference  between  such  natural  faith  and  reli- 
gious, saving  faith,  is  not  that  they  are  two  entirely 
separate  things,  but  that  the  one  is  regenerated  into  the 
other;  a  new  heart  is  given  it,  so  that  now,  instead  of 
satisfying  itself  with  earthly  things  to  trust  in,  it  embra- 
ces the  heavenly ;  instead  of  contenting  itself  with  hew- 
ing out  to  itself  cisterns  that  can  hold  no  water,  it  rests 
for  happiness  upon  the  fullness  of  God ;  instead  of  seek- 
ing salvation  in  our  own  righteousness,  it  embraces 
promises  of  God  in  Christ,  and  in  doing  so  embraces  the 
Christ  in  all  the  offices  and  relations  which  he  sustains 
to  us;  his  will  as  well  as  his  grace;  the  precept  of  his 
present  service  as  well  as  the  hope  of  his  everlasting 
blessedness.  And  because  this  great  change  can  no  more 
take  place  in  the  natural  faith  of  the  heart  than  the  cor- 
responding change  in  the  heart's  natural  love,  without  the 
direct  gift  of  God's  Holy  Spirit,  therefore,  most  justly  is 
it  said  of  saving  faith,  that  it  is  "not  of  yourselves,  hit  the  gift 
of  God"  So  that  just  as  we  said  of  love,  we  now  say  of 
this.  Faith  is  the  gift  of  nature.  But  saving  faith  in 
Christ  is  exclusively  the  gift  of  grace.  To  believe  and 
to  live  by  faith,  is  born  with  us,  To  believe  with  the 
heart  in  Christ,  and  live  thereby  unto  God,  is  not  ours  till 
we  are  born  again. 

But  we  advance  a  further  step.  Not  only  do  we  find 
in  the  natural  faith  of  men  that  which  is  so  akin  to  the 
saving  faith  of  the  Gospel;  but  the  exceeding  prominence 


236  SERMON   XI. 

assigned  to  the  latter  in  thewliole  plan  of  salvation,  in 
all  our  spiritual  interests  and  duties,  is  precisely  corres- 
pondent to  the  position  held  by  the  natural  faith  of  man, 
in  all  his  temporal  concerns ;  in  all  that  constitutes  the 
welfare  of  human  society ;  so  that  it  would  be  a  departure 
from  all  that  we  are  accustomed  to  in  the  divine  arrange- 
ments for  our  secular  interests  and  duties,  did  we  find  in 
the  provisions  of  the  Gospel  for  our  spiritual  and  eternal 
welfare,  any  less  essential  and  prominent  position  assigned 
to  faith  than  that  in  which  the  scriptures  have  placed  it. 

But  you  tell  me  that  such  is  the  exceeding  prominence 
of  faith  in  the  religion  of  Christ,  that  every  thing  in  the 
saving  of  the  soul  is  made  to  hinge  on  that  one  gift ;  that 
without  it  there  can  be  no  true  piety,  no  interest  in 
Christ,  no  salvation ;  and  with  it,  we  are  "  in  Christ,"  and 
have  eternal  life ;  that  it  is  the  tree  to  which  all  the  other 
manifestations  of  personal  religion  belong  as  its  fruit,  and 
without  which  they  can  no  more  be  produced  than  grapes 
can  grow  without  the  stock  and  root  of  the  vine.  True  ! 
But  what  less  can  you  say  of  natural  faith  in  all  that  per- 
tains to  the  personal,  domestic  and  social  relations  of  man 
in  the  present  life  ?  Does  not  the  whole  movement  of 
this  world,  as  a  world  of  mind  and  heart  and  mutual  inter- 
ests and  innumerable  connections,  between  man  and  man, 
turn  upon  the  single  pivot  of  faith  ? 

Take  man  at  his  birth.  What  is  the  whole  existence 
of  the  feeble,  helpless  infant,  but  a  life  of  the  most 
simple,  implicit  faith.  He  literally  lives  ly  faith.  Take 
away  his  unquestioning  faith  in  his  mother's  love  and  care, 
and  what  will  become  of  his  life  ?  And  when  the  time 
arrives  for  his  education,  how  can  he  receive  the  first 


THE  NATURE   AND    EFFICACY    OF    SAVING    FAITH.  237 

communications  of  knowledge  but  by  an  elementary  and 
implicit  faith?  Must  he  discuss  the  necessity  or  the  pro- 
priety of  the  alphabet  before  he  will  receive  it  ?  And  to 
the  end  of  life,  how  large  a  part  of  all  he  will  ever  know 
as  matter  of  fact,  must  be  known  by  faith  only ;  by  reli- 
ance on  the  testimony  of  men  !  How  can  he  know  of 
distant  lands  which  he  never  sees,  but  by  such  faith  alone  ? 
Suppose  a  man  to  have  no  faith  in  his  fellow-man,  and 
what  can  you  imagine  more  helpless  or  more  wretched! 
Suppose  a  family,  the  members  of  which  are  without  faith 
in  one  another,  and  how  is  it  possible  there  can  be  any 
family  life  ?  And  thus  advancing  to  the  social  relations 
of  a  whole  nation,  how  immediately  would  you  dissolve 
the  bonds  of  civilized  communities,  and  annihilate  ah1  the 
combinations  and  reciprocal  dependencies  which  make  the 
basis  of  society,  and  how  would  you  substitute  a  condition 
worse  than  even  of  the  lowest  barbarism  you  ever  heard 
of,  were  you  to  take  away  from  a  people  merely  their 
faith  in  one  another.  Nothing  more  distinguishes  a  civil- 
ized from  a  savage  state,  than  the  extension  of  the  exer- 
cise of  faith.  By  the  growth  of  faith  in  one  another, 
combinations  for  mutual  benefit  become  more  easy  and 
more  numerous  and  more  efficient.  Thus  arise  power 
and  accumulation  of  the  means  of  further  improvement. 
Knowledge  grows  with  this  union  of  minds.  Laws  extend 
their  protection,  because  men  rely  on  one  another  for  their 
observance  and  support.  Commerce  spreads  its  wings, 
and  arts  and  all  the  blessings  of  cultivated  life  attain  do- 
minion on  the  strength  of  the  confidence  of  man  in  man. 
How  lives  the  vast  system  of  pecuniary  exchange  that 
binds  the  whole  business  world  together,  embracing  in  its 


238  SERMON    XL 

connections,  all  countries,  all  classes,  all  interests,  so  that 
were  it  stopped,  there  must  take  place  a  dissolution  in 
the  secular  interests  of  men  like  that  in  our  bodies,  when 
the  circulation  of  the  blood  has  ceased;  how  lives  that 
whole  system  but  by  faith?  And  in  the  world  of  letters, 
what  if  the  faith  that  now  receives  and  acts  confidently 
on  reports  of  distant  lands,  or  of  important  phenomena  in 
nature,  or  of  valuable  experiments  in  science,  were  extinct, 
so  that  instead  of  being  ever  willing  to  rely  on  human 
testimony,  we  must  verify  everything  by  our  own  obser" 
vation  or  experiment — how  then  could  knowledge  increase 
or  science  advance;  what  could  we  ever  know  beyond 
the  narrow  horizon  of  our  own  personal  inspection  ?  How 
know  we  even  to  prepare  for  the  morrow,  but  by  our  faith  that 
the  laws  which  regulate  the  present,  will  alike  extend  into 
the  future  ?  Certainly  it  needs  no  more  words  to  show 
how  innumerable  are  the  ramifications  of  faith  in  our 
most  ordinary  concerns;  how  they  run  in  all  directions, 
extend  to^all  particulars,  and  embrace  the  utmost  extremi- 
ties of  the  social  system,  so  as  not  only  to  bind  together 
its  several  members  in  one  harmonious  movement,  but 
like  the  arteries  in  our  bodies,  to  supply  the  very  life  by 
which  it  exists. 

But  is  there  any  thing  beyond  this  in  the  importance 
attached  to  faith  in  the  Gospel  ?  Is  that  faith  in  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  is  "the  gift  of  God,"  of  any 
more  necessity  to  the  present  life  of  piety  within  us  or  to 
the  future  salvation  of  our  souls,  according  to  the  revela- 
tion of  God  in  the  scriptures,  thin  is  that  faith  which  is 
the  gift  of  nature  to  the  dearest  earthly  interests  of  every 
individual,  family  and  nation? 


THE   NATURE   AND   EFFICACY    OF   SAVING   FAITH.        239 

But  let  us  come  to  some  of  the  special  powers  and  effects 
of  faith,  as  ascribed  to  it  in  the  scriptures. 

We  read,  for  example,  in  an  epistle  of  St.  John,  that 
"whatsoever  is  born  of  God,  overcometh  the  world;  and 
this  is  the  victory  that  overcometh  the  ivorld,  even  your 
faith"''  It  is  a  property,  then,  of  a  living  and  saving 
faith,  that  it  overcomes  the  world.  Faith  in  the  individual 
Christian,  will  give  him,  through  the  power  of  God,  such  a 
victory  over  the  world,  that  he  will  successfully  resist  all 
the  influences  with  which  it  opposes  his  going  out  of  it, 
and  living  unto  God,  and  journeying  toward  the  heavenly 
land.  It  will  make  him  victorious  in  his  daily  conflicts 
with  its  temptations,  and  will  carry  him  triumphantly  to 
the  end  of  his  pilgrimage,  where  the  battle  will  cease  and 
the  crown  of  life  be  gained.  The  same  faith  will  make 
the  whole  Church  of  Christ,  by  the  power  of  its  Divine 
Head,  ultimately  victorious  over  the  whole  world.  By  faith, 
it  will  "subdue  kingdoms;"  it  will  remove  mountains  of 
obstacle  now  presented  by  idolatry,  and  superstition,  and 
worldliness,  and  all  sinfulness ;  it  will  "quench  the  violence 
of  fire,"  which  the  combined  powers  of  infidelity,  and 
popery,  and  anarchy  will  kindle  around  it ;  a  Red  sea  of 
dangers  will  divide  before  it;  the  walls  of  the  mystic 
Babylon,  like  those  of  Jericho  of  old,  will  fall  before  it;  it 
will  stop  the  mouths  of  lions,  gnashing  their  teeth  against 
it ;  it  will  "have  trial"  hereafter,  as  in  past  ages,  "of  cruel 
mockings  and  scourgings — yea,  moreover,  of  bonds  and 
imprisonment ;"  and  many  of  the  children  and  soldiers  of 
faith  may  be  slain;  but  it  is  written  in  the  "sure  word  of 
prophecy,"  that  "  the  kingdom,  and  dominion,  and  the 

*  1  John,  v.  4, 


240  SERMON   XI. 

greatness  of  the  kingdom,  under  the  whole  heaven,  shall 
be  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High, 
whose  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom,  and  all  nations 
shall  serve  and  obey  Him."*     And  this  is  the  victory  that 
by  the  power  of  God,  will  thus  overcome  the  world,  even 
the  combined  faith  of  the  people  of  God.     And  what  is 
all  this  but  just,  in  greater  extension,  what  faith  has  been 
achieving  from  the  beginning  ?     Did  not  Moses  overcome 
the  world  by  a  wonderful  victory,  when  he  refused  the 
honor,  and  power,  and  wealth  connected  with  being  "  called 
the  son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter;"  and  "esteemed  the  re- 
proach of  Christ   greater   riches  than  the  treasures  of 
Egypt  ?"     And  was  it  not  his  faith,  "  enduring  as  seeing 
Him  that  is  invisible,"  and   "having  respect  unto  the 
recompense  of  the  reward  "  at  God's  right   hand,  that 
gained  that  victory  ?  j     And  did  not  faith  overcome  the 
world  in  each  soldier  of  that  noble  army  of  martyrs,  who, 
amidst  the  persecutions  of  all  ages,  enlisted  under  Christ, 
and  fought  a  good  fight,  and  finished  their  course,  and  enter- 
ed into  the  glory  of  God,  "  more  than  conquerors?"     The 
world  slew  them ;  but  in  consenting  to  be  slain,  rather  than 
obey  the  world  to  the  dishonoring  of  Christ,  they  over- 
came the  world.     The  same  was  the  victory  of  that  "  glori- 
ous company  of  the  Apostles,"  who  by  faith  in  the  words 
of  their  Lord,  "lam  with  you  always,  even  to  the  end  of  the 
world"  issued  forth  from  Jerusalem,  to  assault,  single 
handed,  the  empire  of  darkness,  over   the  whole  earth, 
and  ceased  not  their  work  till  a  great  multitude  in  every 
land  had  renounced  the  world  and  become  obedient  unto 
God. 

But  is  there  any  thing  singular  or  strange  in  this  con- 

*Dan.  vii.  27.  fHeb.  xi.  24-27. 


THE   NATURE   AND   EFFICACY   OF   SAVING   FAITH.        241 

nection  of  faith  ?  Is  there  nothing  analogous  thereto  in 
what  the  natural  faith  of  man  accomplishes  away  from  the 
duties  of  the  service  of  God  ?  I  would  not  for  a  moment 
keep  out  of  view  the  infinite  superiority  of  a  gospel  faith 
over  every  other  form  and  operation  of  faith,  in  its  pro- 
perty so  to  enable  the  Christian  to  overcome  the  world, 
that  in  his  heart,  and  spirit,  and  life,  he  is  no  more  of  it; 
but  one  of  "a  peculiar  people,"  who  declare,  in  all  their 
affections  and  life,  that  they  "  have  here  no  continuing  city 
or  abiding  place,  but  are  seeking  one  to  come."  "No  man 
can  do  such  miracles  except  God  be  with  him."  But  there 
is  a  faith  which,  in  an  unspeakably  lower  field,  and  for  in- 
finitely less  precious  ends,  and  against  far  less  opposition, 
overcomes  the  world.  The  man  who  sets  his  heart,  not 
indeed  on  treasure  in  heaven,  but  upon  the  treasures  of 
golden  mines  in  a  far  distant  land,  and  puts  such  faith  in 
the  promises  of  wealth  to  him  who  will  go  there  and  search 
the  sands,  and  the  rocks,  and  encounter  all  the  perils  and 
endure  all  the  hardships  inseparable  from  the  effort,  that 
notwithstanding  all  the  resistance  of  all  that  he  loves,  and 
all  that  he  has  in  this  world,  he  makes  the  needed  sacrifice 
of  every  personal  comfort,  and  domestic  attachment,  and 
worldly  connection ;  and,  with  a  brave  will,  battles  all  the 
dangers  and  difficulties  of  the  long,  disheartening  journey 
by  the  way  of  the  wilderness  and  the  savage,  fearing 
neither  hunger,  nor  cold,  nor  nakedness,  and  reaches  at 
last  the  scene  of  his  anticipated  labors — is  there  no  vic- 
tory that  overcometh  the  world  in  him?  True,  it  is  the 
power  of  a  worldly  dominion  in  his  heart  overcoming  the 
obstacles  of  the  world  without ;  it  is  a  victory  that  uses 
the  attractions  of  one  promise  of  the  world  against  those 
16 


242  SERMON  XI. 

of  all  the  world  besides ;  it  only  makes  the  conqueror, 
more  than  ever,  the  slave  of  the  world ;  but  it  is  a  great 
victory  to  be  gained  over  such  obstacles  and  at  such  cost ; 
and  that  which  obtains  it  is  faith.  Nothing  but  strong 
faith  in  the  promises  that  came  from  that  distant  land, 
of  golden  gains;  faith  investing  those  things  unseen  and 
distant  with  the  influence  of  things  present  and  seen,  could 
take  such  possession  of  the  mind,  and  nerve  it  for  such 
labors  and  sacrifices. 

But  let  us  take  another  example.  A  great  Captain 
overcame  with  his  armies  .many  nations  — -  a  large  part  of 
the  earth.  But  how  ?  Not  by  superiority  of  numbers, 
for  the  vanquished  nations  far  exceeded  his  array.  Not 
by  superior  personal  courage,  for  armies  are  generally 
much  alike  in  that  respect.  Superiority  of  discipline  is 
said  to  have  decided  the  contest.  But  what  is  the  soul, 
and  bond,  and  strength  of  military  discipline,  but  faith  ? 
That  which  binds  the  regiment  into  one  compact  and 
steady  array,  and  enables  it  to  move  as  one  man,  obeying 
without  confusion,  and  without  fear,  the  orders  of  the 
head,  unbroken  by  assault,  unaffected  by  dangers,  is  not 
the  mere  practice  of  evolution,  but  it  is  something  without 
which  all  such  practice  would  come  to  nought  in  the  hour 
of  conflict —  confidence,  reliance  —  not  the  reliance  of  each 
man  upon  himself,  but  of  each  in  all  the  rest;  and,  espe- 
cially, the  confidence  of  all  in  the  leading  head.  The 
weak  are  made  strong  by  such  faith.  The  fearful  are 
made  bold  by  such  faith.  The  hundreds  have  overcome 
the  thousands  by  such  faith.  Without  it,  the  strong  be- 
come weak,  the  bold  become  fearful ;  and  the  greater  the 
number,  the  worse  the  defeat  and  the  dismay. 


THE   NATURE  AND   EFFICACY   OF   SAVING   FAITH.        243 

I  am  well  aware  that  whatever  examples  I  may  produce 
of  the  operation  of  the  natural  faith  of  man  surmounting 
great  difficulties,  and  accomplishing  great  victories,  in 
pursuit  of  some  engrossing  end,  must  come  immeasurably 
short  of  a  just  resemblance,  in  many  respects,  of  that 
elevated  faith  which  is  "  mighty,  through  God,"  to  over- 
come the  world.  But  we  are  looking  for  analogies,  not 
equals ;  for  faith  in  the  world,  occupying  a  position  towards 
the  world,  similar,  in  its  low  and  contracted  sphere,  to  that 
of  faith  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  are  "not  of  the  world" 
in  its  high  endeavors  to  attain  the  kingdom  of  God. 

There  is  certainly  a  boundless  difference  in  character 
and  spirit  between  the  faith  that  overcomes  the  world  out 
of  the  love  of  it,  and  that  it  may  have  the  more  of  it  — 
and  that  which  overcomes  the  world  because  it  has  re- 
nounced it,  and  is  endeavoring  to  get  as  much  delivered 
as  possible  from  its  entanglements  and  attractions.  You 
describe  a  vast  gulf  between  the  two,  when  you  say  of  the 
faith  which  God  gives  by  his  grace,  that  it  "  worketh  by 
love,"  the  love  of  God,  the  love  of  holiness,  the  love  of 
unseen  and  eternal  blessedness  with  Christ ;  and  can  say 
nothing  better  of  the  faith  that  is  naturally  in  us,  than 
that,  if  it  ever  work  by  love,  it  is  only  by  the  love  of 
things  on  the  earth,  as  empty  and  fleeting  as  the  shadow. 
And  in  point  of  operation,  what  comparison  is  there  between 
the  faith  which,  in  accomplishing  its  ends,  has  no  power  to 
rest  on  but  man's,  and  that  which,  because  it  is  engaged 
in  the  work  of  God,  in  obedience  to  his  word,  and  in  the 
assurance  of  his  promises,  has  the  power  of  his  omnipo- 
tent arm  to  nerve  it  and  make  it  victorious?  The  former 
can  never  rise  above  the  arm  of  flesh  it  leans  to.  All  it 


244  SERMON    XI. 

gains  is  of  its  own  level.  The  latter  must  rise  to  the  arm 
above,  which  it  holds  to.  Its  conquests  must  be  as  high 
as  heaven,  and  as  eternal  as  God. 

But  vast  as  is  the  difference  in  point  of  character  and 
operation,  there  is  a  strict  analogy  between  the  position  of 
our  natural  faith  as  connected  with  every  worldly  enter- 
prise, and  that  of  a  saving  faith  as  connected  with  the 
great  enterprise  of  every  Christian  believer,  to  overcome 
and  live  above  the  world. 

But  let  us  take  another  instance  of  the  great  promi- 
nence assigned  to  faith  in  the  scriptures.  We  read  the 
words  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  where  he  says:  "/  am  the 
bread  of  life ;"  in  which  single  expression  he  embraces  all 
our  salvation  as  being  found  in  him.  Then  he  says  :  "He 
that  cometh  to  me  shall  never  hunger,  and  he  that  believeth  on 
me  shall  never  thirst ; "  *  thus  making  faith  not  only  the 
way,  but  the  certain  way,  by  which  we  are  to  partake  of 
him  and  live  forever.  St.  Paul,  in  enforcing  this  doc- 
trine, said :  "  We  are  made  partakers  of  Christy  if  ^ue  hold 
the  beginning  of  our  confidence  (faith)  steadfast  unto  the 
end ;  "  |  thus  teaching  that  not  only  is  it  faith  that  ob- 
tains Christ  and  makes  him  ours,  but  that  it  is  the  stead- 
fast continuance  of  faith  alone  that  retains  him  as  ours, 
and  will  finally  insure  to  the  soul  the  everlasting  posses- 
sion of  that  living  bread.  And  in  the  same  connection 
are  the  words  of  the  text :  "  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son, 
hath  everlasting  life."  The  act  of  faith  is  here  immedi- 
ately connected  with  our  being  partakers  of  Christ,  with 
our  coming  into  saving  union  with  him,  and  being  justi- 
fied in  his  righteousness;  and  thus  it  is  connected  with  the 

*  John  vi.  35.  f  Heb.  iii.  14. 


THE   NATURE   AND    EFFICACY    OF   SAVING   FAITH.          240 

present  possession  of  life  with  God,  and  life  everlasting. 
But  this  wonderful  blessing,  consequent  upon  the  simple 
act  of  believing  with  the  heart  in  Christ,  is  it  illustrated 
by  any  analogy  to  be  found  in  the  efficacy  of  that  faith 
which  resides  naturally  in  man,  and  operates  in  his  daily 
interests  ? 

What  is  it  that  goes  on  continually  between  the  physi- 
cian and  the  sick?  A  man  is  dying  with  a  malady, 
against  which  all  his  own  efforts,  and  the  skill  of  those 
about  him,  have  proved  ineffectual.  He  is  told  of  a  phy- 
sician at  a  distance,  of  whose  power  over  disease  he 
receives  such  evidence  and  assurance,  that  .he  is  per- 
suaded that  if  he  can  only  get  to  him  he  can  be  saved. 
At  much  expense  and  much  effort,  in  his  weakness,  he 
goes  to  that  physician,  places  himself  in  his  hands,  sur- 
renders himself  implicitly  to  his  direction,  to  be  conformed 
in  all  things  to  his  requirements.  Thus  he  comes  into 
union  with  that  physician.  There  is  a  vital  connection 
formed  between  the  malady  of  the  one  and  the  power  of 
the  other.  The  sick  man  is  thus  a  partaker  of  the  phy- 
sician, in  all  his  skill  and  power  to  heal.  But  what  has 
made  him  thus  a  partaker?  what  has  formed  this  union, 
whereby  he  escapes  from  death?  Is  it  not  bis  faith? 
It  was  simply  because  he  so  fully  believed  in  the  physi- 
cian, that  he  came  to  him;  that  he  placed  himself  in  his 
hands;  that  he  obeyed  all  his  most  painful  requirements. 
Without  faith  he  would  not  have  done  so.  By  faith  was 
the  union  formed  between  himself,  as  dying,  and  the  skill 
of  that  physician,  as  mighty  to  save  him. 

Now,  you  well  know  that  the  salvation  which  is  offered 
to  us  in  Christ,  is  presented  to  us  in  the  light  of  a  gra- 


246  SERMON   XI. 

cious  and  all-sufficient  remedy  for  our  dying  condition 
under  the  internal  dominion  of  sin,  and  the  condemnation 
of  God's  violated  law.  Jesus  comes  to  us  as  the  physi- 
cian, mighty  to  save  to  the  uttermost  all  who  believe  in 
his  name.  He  "healed  all  that  came  unto  him,"  in  the 
days  of  his  ministry  on  earth,  of  all  their  "  divers  diseases 
and  torments"  of  body,  in  order  to  show  how  ready  and 
able  he  is  to  comfort  and  deliver  all  that  ever  thereafter 
should  mourn  the  power  of  sin,  and  the  burden  of  its 
condemnation  on  the  soul. 

Let  us  then  suppose  the  case  of  a  sinner  thus  feeling 
his  spiritual  necessities.  He  has  tried  all  .the  expedients 
which  self-reliance  and  human  aid  could  suggest,  and  now 
feels  that  he  is  as  helpless  as  he  is  sinful  and  needy. 
The  gracious  call  of  Christ  is  heard,  saying,  "Come  unto 
me,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  It  comes  to  him  with  convin- 
cing evidence  that  to  Christ  he  cannot  apply  in  vain.  He 
comes  to  the  Saviour,  embraces  his  promises,  surrenders 
himself  to  his  grace,  submits  himself  to  his  will.  Thus 
are  all  his  necessities  brought  into  union  with  all  the 
saving  grace  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  Thus  does  he  be- 
come a  "partaker"  in  all  which  that  gracious  physician 
has  invited  him  to  seek  in  him.  He  now  hath  life  in 
Christ.  And  what  has  brought  him  to  that  possession  ? 
What  has  set  him  down  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  to  do  just 
what  he  directs,  but  faith  ?  It  was  because  he  did  not 
believe  in  any  other  refuge,  that  he  renounced  all  others. 
It  was  because  he  did  believe  in  this  one  refuge,  that  he 
fled  to  it,  and  was  made  partaker  in  its  salvation;  and 
now  he  will  be  jthe  final  partaker  of  Christ  unto  life  eter- 


THE  NATURE  AND  EFFICACY  OF  SAVING  FAITH.  247 

nal,  if  he  shall  only  "  hold  the  beginning  of  his  confidence 
steadfast  unto  the  end" 

Thus,  we  are  prepared  for  the  strong  declaration  of  the 
text:  "He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting 
life ;  and  he  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall  not  see  life, 
but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him." 

We  do  not  see  but  that,  as  regards  the  points  now  in 
view,  that  text,  in  its  first  declaration,  has  its  entire 
parallel  and  illustration  in  the  case  of  every  sick  man, 
who,  in  reliance  upon  a  physician's  skill,  applies  to  him, 
adopts  his  prescriptions,  and  is  delivered  from  death  by 
his  cure;  and  in  its  second  declaration,  has  its  entire  par- 
allel in  the  case  of  every  sick  man  who  might  equally  be 
healed,  but,  because  he  chooses  some  other  help,  and  will 
not  entrust  his  case  to  him  who  is  able  to  heal,  must  die. 
He  that  believed  in  the  physician,  has  life.  He  that  be- 
lieveth not,  shall  not  have  life,  but  the  power  of  death 
abideth  on  him. 

If  God,  in  his  wise  providence,  has  thus  suspended  the 
cure  of  the  body  upon  the  exercise  of  faith,  is  it  a  matter 
of  wonder  that  in  the  appointments  of  his  grace,  he  should 
make  the  salvation  of  our  souls  as  much  dependent  on 
the  exercise  of  a  true  faith  in  the  exclusive  sufficiency  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ?  Do  we  not  see  that  the  position 
of  faith  in  the  Gospel,  as  essential  to  our  being  partakers 
of  Christ,  so  far  from  being  such  a  peculiarity  of  the  Gos- 
pel, that  it  has  no  parallel  any  where  else,  and  has  no 
explanation  but  that  so  hath  God  ordained,  is  no  more 
than  the  carrying  out,  in  our  highest  concerns,  of  the 
ways  of  God,  as  they  are  ordered  in  all  the  temporal  inter- 
ests of  man,  so  that  if  it  were  possible  that  we  should  be 


248  SERMON   XI. 

saved  through  Christ,  in  any  other  way  than  by  believing 
upon  him,  it  would  be  a  departure,  not  only  from  the  re- 
peated dec  arations  of  God's  word,  but  also  from  all  the 
ways  of  his  providence. 

In  truth,  the  position  of  faith  in  the  heart  of  the  Chris- 
tian as  regards  the  life  of  his  piety,  and  the  strength  of  all 
its  operations  towards  God,  is  just  the  restoration  of  what 
dates  its  origin  as  far  back  as  the  creation.  Faith  in  God 
was  as  much  the  feature  of  man  before  he  fell  under  the 
power  of  sin,  as  love  to  God.  His  whole  perfect  walk  was 
of  the  simplest,  most  implicit  and  affectionate  trust.  The 
divine  word  on  which  his  faith  rested,  was  written  in  his 
own  enlightened  conscience  and  faithful  heart ;  was  writ- 
ten in  every  illuminated  page  of  the  great  volume  of 
nature ;  was  heard  in  his  direct  and  daily  communion  with 
his  Maker.  None,  ever  since,  have  walked  as  perfectly 
by  faith,  as  did  Adam,  before  he  fell;  as  none  have  ever 
walked  as  perfectly  in  love.  "  Faith  that  worketh  by 
love,"  was  more  mature  in  Paradise  than  it  has  ever  been 
out  of  it. 

But  the  fall  of  man  dislocated  both  his  love  and  faith. 
It  destroyed  neither;  but  it  separated  both  from  God. 
Love  remained  ;  but  not  love  to  God.  Faith  remained; 
but  not  a  living  faith  in  God.  And  now  the  prominence 
of  our  natural  faith  in  all  the  concerns  of  this  life;  its  con- 
tinual and  essential  operation,  from  the  most  simple  trusting 
of  childhood,  through  all  the  complex  reliances  of  our  man- 
hood; and  then  down  again  to  the  simplicity  of  a  second 
childhood,  so  that  it  is  as  true  in  secular  life  as  in  spiritual, 
that  we  live  by  faith— -what  is  all  this  but  the  remnant, 
the  detached  fragment,  of  that  implicit,  and  all  compre- 


THE  NATURE  AND  EFFICACY   OF    SAVING   FAITH.  249 

hensive,  faith  in  God  which  once  reigned  supreme  in  the 
heart  of  man;  and  which,  because  it  embraced  the  whole 
will  of  God,  connected  itself  with  and  sanctified  the 
whole  world  that  God  created  ?  Faith  then,  was  all  reli- 
gious faith,  whatever  its  secular  connections;  because 
then  the  most  ordinary  and  secular  act  and  interest  was 
directly  associated  with  and  part  of  the  service  and  wor- 
ship of  God.  All  life  was  religion,  as  all  religion  was 
life. 

Now,  it  is  the  office  of  the  grace  of  God,  dispensed 
through  Christ  our  Mediator,  to  restore  religious  faith  to 
its  original  supremacy  in  the  heart  and  life  of  man ;  to 
regenerate  the  present  natural  faith  in  the  creature,  so 
that  it  shall  be  a  living,  saving  faith  in  the  Creator ;  to 
take  up  that  fallen  fragment  as  it  lies  broken  away  from 
God,  like  a  chain  that  has  lost  its  upward  fastening,  and 
now  is  dragging  along  in  the  dust ;  to  lift  it  up  again  to 
God  ;  link  it  again  to  his  throne  ;  then  carry  it  from  man 
to  man,  till  every  heart  has  moored  itself  thereto ;  and  so 
to  unite  all  mankind  in  one  happy  reliance  on  the  prom- 
ises, in  one  happy  obedience  to  the  will,  in  one  happy  par- 
'  ticipation  in  the  blessing  and  salvation,  of  God. 

But  in  saying  that  the  faith  required  of  the  Christian 
for  salvation,  is  just  the  restoration  of  a  faith  which  is  as 
old  as  the  creation  of  man,  I  must  be  understood  as  speak- 
ing only  of  its  essential  nature  and  its  prominent  position  in 
religion.  In  the  exercise  of  faith,  there  is  something  pecu- 
liar to  the  Gospel,  and  which,  before  sin  came  into  the 
world,  and  the  promise  of  a  Saviour  was  made,  could  not 
exist.  Religion  and  salvation  are  now  so  inseparably  asso- 
ciated in  our  thoughts,  that  we  can  scarcely  imagine  them 


250  SERMON   XI. 

divided.  But  before  the  coming  in  of  sin,  man's  religion, 
which  was  then  in  its  perfectness,  had  no  reference  to  sal- 
vation. There  was  no  salvation  to  be  attained,  because 
there  was  nothing  lost.  Man  was  safe,  as  long  as  he  con- 
tinued what  he  was.  But  he  sinned,  and  thus  was  lost. 
A  salvation  and  a  Saviour  were  now  required.  Hence- 
forth religion  was  all  about  salvation;  and  the  Saviour, 
then  promised,  and  now  sent  of  God  to  seek  and  to  save 
that  which  is  lost,  became,  as  he  ever  must  be,  the  great 
and  precious  object  and  refuge  in  the  sight  of  sinners. 
To  get  to  Christ;  to  be  partakers  of  him,  in  all  his  offices, 
as  the  one  Mediator  between  God  and  man,  became  at 
once  the  great  matter.  Thus  it  is  that  faith  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ^  faith  as  the  approach  of  the  soul  to  him  who 
is  the  sinner's  way  to  God  and  God's  way  to  sinners,  be- 
came so  leading  a  feature  in  true  religion;  not  faith  in  any 
new  prominence,  but  in  an  entirely  new  direction;  not  faith 
rendered  any  more  essential  to  religion  than  it  was  before, 
but  performing  its  essential  office  by  seeking  deliverance 
from  a  misery  which  man  had  not  before,  and  embracing 
a  remedy  which  man  needed  not  before ;  faith  seeking 
God,  by  first  resting  in  a  Mediator,  and  looking  unto  Jesus 
as  the  Author  and  the  Finisher  of  all  its  hope. 

But  we  must  not  omit  to  speak  of  a  peculiarity  in  the 
saving  faith  whereby  we  become  partakers  of  the  right- 
eousness of  Christ,  which  eminently  distinguishes  it  from 
that  natural  faith  of  the  human  heart  with  which  we  have 
compared  it.  It  is  described  as  "faith  that  worketh  ly 
love"*  That  is,  not  only  is  it  working,  operative,  influ- 
ential, as  all  faith,  whether  of  the  natural  or  regenerate 
heart,  whether  occupied  with  secular  or  eternal  things, 

*Gal.  v.6. 


THE   NATURE   AND   EFFICACY    OF   SAVING    FAITH.        251 

must  be,  unless  it  be  only  nominal ;  but  the  operative 
character  of  saving,  gospel  faith,  is  distinguished  by  this 
notable  peculiarity,  that  "it  worketh  ly  love"  by  the  love 
of  him  on  whom  its  trust  is  placed,  Jesus  Christ ;  by  the 
love  of  God,  unto  whom  it  comes  through  Christ ;  by  the 
love  of  his  will  and  service,  and  by  the  love  of  all  his 
people  for  his  sake.  Hence  the  true  believer  is  drawn  by 
the  affections  of  his  heart  to  desire,  and  to  walk  in,  the 
path  of  holiness ;  not  merely  because,  without  holiness,  he 
knows  he  cannot  be  saved,  but  because  he  loves  holiness 
as  the  very  image  and  likeness  of  God.  Take  away  that 
operative  love,  thus  drawing  him  to  delight  in  the  will  of 
him  on  whose  promises  his  faith  is  placed,  and  that  faith 
is  dead.  It  is  but  the  lifeless  form  of  faith,  about  as  much 
like  the  saving  faith  of  the  gospel,  as  a  corpse  is  like  the 
living  man.  It  may  join  him  to  the  visible  Church,  but  it 
cannot  unite  him  to  Christ;  it  may  make  him  a  partaker 
of  the  visible  fellowship  of  true  believers,  but  it  cannot 
introduce  him  to  that  invisible  communion  wherein  true 
believers  are  partakers  of  Christ,  in  the  imputation  of  his 
righteousness  to  justify  them,  and  the  communication  of 
his  Spirit  to  sanctify  them. 

But  it  is  needless  to  show  that  the  natural  faith  of  the 
human  heart,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  in  point  of  prom- 
inence and  importance  in  secular  affairs,  is  so  analogous  to 
that  of  the  Gospel,  has  no  such  attribute.  It  is  a  working 
faith,  however.  It  is  not  dead  in  regard  to  its  appropriate 
office.  It  strongly  embraces  all  the  promises  it  has  to 
rest  upon.  But  it  does  not  necessarily  work  by  love. 
For  example,  is  it  the  faith  of  the  sick  man  seeking  the 
physician's  aid,  trusting  in  his  skill,  conforming  to  his 


252  SERMON   XI. 

directions  ?  It  is  operative,  it  is  obedient,  and  it  may  be 
successful,  though,  in  place  of  having  any  love  for  the  phy- 
sician, or  for  the  obedience  of  his  will,  by  which  to  work, 
there  may  be  the  strongest  aversion  to  both,  an  aversion 
overcome  only  by  the  stronger  love  of  life. 

And  now  let  me  return  once  more,  in  conclusion,  to 
the  particular  words  of  the  text : 

"He  that  believe th  on  the  Son,  hath  everlasting  life" 
He  " hath  the  Son"  because  his  faith  has  applied  to  the 
Son.  He  hath  life,  because  in  the  Son  is  "  the  life  of 
men."  He  hath  "  everlasting  life  ;  "  as  he  that  hath  the 
inexhaustible  fountain,  hath  the  endless  stream.  Is  Christ 
our  righteousness,  wherein  we  are  justified  before  God? 
Faith  brings  us  to,  and  makes  us  partakers  in,  that  right- 
eousness. Is  Christ  our  sanctification,  whereby  we  are  made 
meet  for  the  presence  of  God  ?  Faith  brings  us  to,  and 
makes  us  partakers  in,  that  sanctification.  And  the  union 
of  those  two  is  life,  with  God,  and  unto  God — "life  ever- 
lasting;" the  same  life  precisely  as  that  which  saints  made 
perfect  enjoy  in  the  immediate  vision  of  God,  and  in  the 
boundless  bliss  of  his  kingdom ;  except  that  here,  it  is  the 
stream,  begun  and  flowing  on,  impeded  and  obscured  by 
the  nature  it  flows  in ;  but  growing  wider,  and  deeper,  as  it 
proceeds;  while  there,  it  is  the  ocean,  without  measure,  and 
without  impurity — the  united  life  of  all  the  saints  of  God, 
in  their  utmost  perfectness  of  communion  with  his  infinite 
fullness. 

But  we  must  mark  more  particularly,  that  the  words  of 
the  text  are  in  present  time.  They  declare,  that  "he  that 
believeth  on  the  Son,  hath  everlasting  life."  The  posses- 
sion of  life,  in  other  words,  is  immediate  on  the  possession 


THE    NATURE  AND   EFFICACY   OF   SAVING  FAITH.        253 

of  faith.  When  the  sinner  believes  with  his  heart,  as 
soon  as  he  so  believes,  he  hath  that  life,  that  peace  with 
God,  that  justification,  that  sanctification;  yea,  justifica- 
tion complete,  because  in  that  there  can  be  no  degrees  or 
progression ;  but  sanctification  begun,  as  the  morning  light, 
and  going  on  to  the  perfect  day  of  holiness  in  heaven. 

But  the  text  contains  as  positive  a  declaration  of  the 
present  possession  of  the  ivrath  of  God  ly  him  ivho  leliev- 
eth  not.  "  He  that  believeth  not  the  Son,  shall  not  see 
life ;  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him."  "  The  wrath 
of  God  abideth  "  NOW,  on  every  one  that  hath  not  faith 
in  Christ.  He  waits  not  for  the  day  of  judgment.  He 
"is  condemned  already."*  Does  this  seem  a  hard  saying? 
But  is  it  not  the  necessary  result  of  these  two  facts, 
namely  :  that  you  have  sinned  against  God,  and  that 
you  have  not  embraced  the  only  terms  of  his  forgiveness? 
If  I  find  a  man  under  the  power  of  a  deadly  disease,  and  tell 
him  of  one  that  can  and  will  heal  him,  if  he  will  only  trust 
himself  to  his  care;  and  then,  when  he  will  not  do  so,  but 
prefers  to  trust  the  power  of  his  own  nature  to  overcome  the 
malady,  and  so  goes  on  to  die,  would  it  be  strange,  if  I 
should  say,  because  he  will  not  put  his  trust  in  that  physi- 
cian, he  cannot  have  life  ;  but  the  power  of  death  abideth 
on  him? 

A  raging  flood,  we  will  suppose,  has  overflowed  the  land ; 
a  family,  surrounded  by  the  waters,  has  gathered  to  the 
last  foothold;  the  tide  is  rapidly  rising ;  soon  they  must 
be  swept  away.  But  see  !  a  boat  hastens  to  their  relief- 
A  rope  is  thrown,  and  a  voice  cries  to  them,  "  come  away ; 
seize  the  rope ;  trust  its  strength  and  we  will  save  you." 
One  grasps  it  eagerly,  and  is  drawn  aboard  and  rescued. 

*John  iii.  18. 


254  SERMON   XI. 

The  others  hesitate,  and  linger,  and  look  around  for  some- 
thing else.  They  hope  the  waters  will  not  rise  any  more. 
They  will  hope  to  be  saved  where  they  are.  But  now  the 
moment  of  rescue  is  over — the  boat  can  stay  no  longer. 
The  flood  increases,  and  takes  them  all  away.  And  what 
is  the  most  appropriate  language  concerning  them  ?  None 
better  than  that  of  the  text :  He  that  believeth  is  saved; 
but  they  that  believed  not,  cannot  live,  but  'the  wrath  of  the 
flood  abideth  on  them.  And  what  is  this  but,  under  an- 
other form,  the  precise  case  of  those  who  believe  not  on 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ?  They  are  sinners.  They  have 
therefore  incurred  the  condemnation  of  God.  They  have 
come  under  his  wrath.  Have  they  ever  obtained  the 
removal  of  that  wrath  ?  The  only  Saviour  has  come  to 
save  them;  has  come  near  to  them;  has  stretched  out 
his  hands  unto  them;  has  entreated  them  to  embrace  his 
salvation;  but  they  have  turned  away  from  him;  they 
will  not  rest  their  hearts  upon  his  grace.  What  follows  ? 
Why,  they  remain,  of  course,  just  as  they  were ;  their 
sins  unpardoned ;  their  souls  without  peace.  Let  that 
unbelief,  that  neglect  of  Christ,  go  on  to  death,  and  they 
can  never  see  life ;  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  them 
forever  and  ever.  Surely  it  is  not  wonderful,  that,  reject- 
ing the  ark  you  must  abide  the  flood;  that,  neglecting  to 
avail  yourselves  of  the  only  salvation,  you  should  remain 
the  lost  to  all  eternity. 

But  there  is  one  thing  to  be  noted  here  of  great  seri- 
ousness. The  drowning  man  does  not  make  the  depth  in 
which  he  sinks,  any  the  deeper  or  more  terrible,  because 
he  will  not  seize  the  hand  extended  to  rescue  him.  But 
not  so  with  the  sinner,  abiding  and  sinking  under  the  con- 


THE   NATURE   AND    EFFICACY    OF    SAVING    FAITH.  255 

demnation  of  sin,  and  who  yet  neglects  the  great  salva- 
tion which  the  wonderful  love  and  grace  of  God  have  pro- 
vided for  him  at  so  much  cost,  and  pressed  upon  his 
acceptance  with  so  much  compassion.  That  neglect, 
though  it  be  merely  neglect,  and  rise  not  to  a  more  posi- 
tive rejection  of  Christ,  is  itself  awful  sin,  covering  the 
soul  with  guilt;  enough  of  itself  to  ruin  you  forever;  and 
consequently,  to  a  dreadful  extent,  increasing  the  weight  of 
the  condemnation  abiding  already.  This  is  not  often  con- 
sidered by  sinners  in  this  unhappy  state.  What  they  for- 
feit by  not  taking  refuge  in  Christ,  they  may  sometimes 
think  of.  But  what  they  get  by  that  course,  they  do  not 
consider.  Not  to  accept  Christ  I  What  is  it  but  to  re- 
ject him  ?  Take  care,  my  hearers,  that  you  understand 
this.  No  matter  how  confidently  you  may  expect,  some- 
time hereafter,  to  embrace  Christ ;  the  denial  of  your  pres- 
ent love,  and  trust,  and  obedience,  and  devotedness  to 
him,  is  nothing  less  than  the  present  denial  of  Christ,  in 
every  practical  sense ;  it  is  the  practical  denial,  in  your 
hearts,  that  you  have  any  need  of  his  grace;  it  is  the 
turning  away  of  your  whole  being  from  the  tender  com- 
passion of  him  who  "spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  deliver- 
ed him  up  for  us  all;"  it  is  the  deliberate  taking  away 
from  Christ  that  heart,  that  life,  which  he  hath  purchased 
unto  himself  with  his  own  blood,  and  saying  you  will  not 
have  him  to  reign  over  you.  And  can  it  be  that  the  sin- 
ner does  not  come  under  a  far  heavier  wrath  of  God  for 
this ;  that  if  death  had  no  sting  but  that  one  sin,  it  would  not 
be  enough  to  fill  us  with  "  the  terrors  of  the  Lord."  Oh ! 
what  can  He,  who  is  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead,  in 
the  day  when  "  he  will  bring  every  work  into  judgment, 


256  SERMON  XL 

with  every  secret  thing,"  what  can  he  then  say  to  you  so 
terrible,  as  that  he,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God? 
did  come  to  seek  and  save  your  soul,  by  the  sacrifice  of 
himself,  and  you  neglected  so  great  salvation  ?  Ah  !  that 
denial  of  Christ ;  what  a  denial  from  Christ  must  it  meet, 
in  "the  day  of  the  revelation  of  the  righteous  judg- 
ment of  God  ! "  Escape  ye,  escape  ye,  while  yet  it  is  the 
day  of  salvation !  Tarry  not ;  the  door  of  the  ark  is  yet 
wide  open,  and  the  voice  still  speaks  :  "  Him  that  cometh 
unto  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."  Oh  !  blessed  Spirit 
of  Grace,  help  us  to  persuade  them  to  enter  while  yet  it  is 
a  day  of  grace  and  not  of  judgment — while  it  is  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb  to  take  away  sin  that  is  proclaimed,  and  not 
as  it  soon  will  be  "  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb,"  to  banish  all 
hope  forever!  Look  at  the  fullness,  the  freeness,  the  pre- 
ciousness  of  the  salvation  in  Christ  to  which  ye  are  so 
earnestly  called ;  and  say,  sinners,  say,  why  will  ye  die  ? 


SERMON  XII. 


FAITH   APPROPRIATING   THE   SACRIFICE   OF    CHRIST. 


JOHN  vi.  53,  54. 

' '  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and 
drink  his  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you.  Whoso  eateth  my  flesh,  and 
drinketh  my  blood,  hath  eternal  life;  and  I  \vill  raise  him  up  at  the 
last  day." 

THOSE  among  you  who  are  familiar  with  the  New  Testa- 
ment will  remember  several  verses  connected  with  the 
text,  in  which  our  Lord,  in  different  forms,  uttered  the 
same  declaration  as  that  here  given.  All  of  them  pro- 
nounce very  strongly  on  the  necessity  that,  in  some  sense 
or  other,  we  should  eat  Us  flesh  and  drink  Ms  Uood,  if  we 
would  attain  eternal  life.  Such  an  emphatic  use  of  terms, 
so  remarkably  strong  and  striking,  must  be  supposed  to 
indicate  some  very  essential  doctrine  concerning  the  way 
by  which  we  are  to  partake  in  the  benefits  of  the  Saviour's 
death.  It  is  the  object  of  this  discourse  to  make  that 
doctrine  plain,  and  to  make  such  application  of  it  as  our 
Lord  intended. 

Now  the  first  question  is :  Did  he  use  the  words  "  ex- 
cept ye  eat  the  flesh  and  drink  the  blood  of  the  Son  of 
Man,"  in  a  literal,  or  in  a  figurative  and  spiritual  sensed 
One  or  the  other  was  his  sense,  of  course.  Which  are 
we  to  take? 


17 


258  SERMON  XII. 

The  Jews  who  heard  him  utter  them  understood  him 
in  the  literal  sense,  and  therefore  murmured  at  the  requi- 
sition, and  said,  "  Hoiv  can  this  man  give  us  his  flesh  to  eat  ? 
Those  literal  interpreters  of  the  Saviour's  words  have  not 
wanted  followers  among  Christians.  Ever  since  it  became 
necessary  in  the  Church  of  Rome  to  find  scripture-war- 
rant for  her  monstrous  doctrine  of  transubstantiation, 
which  teaches  that,  under  the  consecrating  act  of  a  priest, 
the  bread  and  wine  in  the  Lord's  Supper  are  changed  into 
the  very  substance  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  so 
that  the  communicant  literally  eats  the  flesh  and  drinks  the 
blood  of  his  Saviour's  body  which  is  in  heaven ;  ever  since 
that  doctrine  became  the  established  faith  of  the  Church 
of  Rome,*  it  has  been  a  great  point  with  its  advocates 
to  take  sides  with  the  interpretation  of  the  Jews,  and  to 
urge  as  necessary  to  salvation,  the  most  literal  obedience 
to  the  Saviour's  words.  Grant  them  that  meaning  of  the 
text,  and  then,  since  their  transubstantiation  of  the  ele- 
ments in  the  Eucharist  is  the  only  method  that  even  pre- 
tends to  furnish  the  means  of  our  literal  compliance,  the 
bearing  upon  their  favorite  dogma  is  manifest. 

But,  unfortunately  for  the  conclusiveness  of  all  the 
argument  they  would  raise  from  that  source,  you  must 
first  believe  the  doctrine  that  is  to  be  proved,  before  you 
can  believe  in  that  literal  interpretation  as  its  evidence. 
If  you  have  first  established  the  matter  of  fact,  that 
under  the  visible  forms  of  bread  and  wine  in  the  sacra- 
ment, we  have  in  material  reality  the  actual  flesh  and  blood 
of  Christ;,  then,  as  there  is  thus  a  way  by  which  we  may 
literally  eat  that  flesh  and  drink  that  blood,  it  becomes 

*  Which  was  not  till  the  Lateran  Council,  A.  D.  1215. 


FAITH  APPROPRIATING  THE  SACRIFICE  OF  CHRIST.        259 

possible,  that  our  Lord,  in  the  words  before  us,  intended 
to  be  literally  understood,  and  possible,  therefore,  that  he 
had  the  transubstantiation  of  the  sacramental  elements  in 
view.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  you  suppose  the 
only  method  ever  dreamed  of,  by  which  to  comply  with 
the  literal  sense,  to  be  not  proved,  then  you  abandon  all 
that  can  possibly  vindicate  that  sense  from  the  charge  of 
perfect  unreasonableness ;  since,  in  the  absence  of  posi- 
tive evidence  to  the  contrary,  it  is  not  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose that  the  Saviour  could  have  made  absolutely  essential 
to  our  salvation,  the  most  impracticable  thing  we  can  con- 
ceive of. 

It  is  singular  that  any  can  adopt  the  literal  interpreta- 
tion, after  the  express  denial  put  on  it  by  our  Lord  himself. 
When  some  of  his  Jewish  hearers  thus  understood  him, 
"  they  strove  among  themselves  "  in  their  revolt  at  such  a 
requisition,  and  exclaimed,  "How  can  this  man  give  us  his 
flesh  to  eat !"  Many  of  his  disciples  said,  "  This  is  a 
hard  saying,  who  can  hear  it?"  Jesus  knew  that  they 
murmured,  and  said,  "  Doth  this  offend  you  ?  It  is  the 
spirit  that  quickeneth,  the  flesh  profiteth  nothing :  the 
words  that  I  speak  unto  you,  they  are  spirit  and  they  are 
life."*  Thus  did  he  expressly  rebuke  their  literal  and 
carnal  understanding  of  his  words  ;  telling  them  distinct- 
ly and  pointedly,  that  "the  flesh"  which  they  understood 
him  to  mean,  namely,  his  flesh,  so  taken,  would  profit  them 
nothing,  even  if  they  could  all  literally  eat  it,  that  he 
was  speaking  of  no  such  carnal  appropriation  of  him  to 
the  saving  of  their  souls ;  that  it  was  the  spirit  —  a  spirit- 
ual participation  of  him ;  which  alone  could  profit  them 

*  John  vi.  63. 


260  SERMON  XII. 

with  God ;  that  his  words  were  to  be  taken  in  that  spirit- 
ual sense,  and  only  when  so  taken  would  they  be  words  o* 
life  to  the  souls  of  men. 

What  we  are  to  understand  by  that  true  spiritual  sense 
of  the  Saviour's  words,  so  misunderstood  by  those  who 
heard  him,  we  will  consider  directly.  But  at  present, 
inasmuch  as  the  peculiar  language  of  the  text  is  so  simi- 
lar to  that  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  that  many  take  it  for 
granted  that  the  latter  is  directly  referred  to  in  the  for- 
mer, and  thus  the  passage  seems,  at  least,  to  countenance  the 
Romish  dogma  of  transubstantiation,  we  will  first  briefly 
inquire  whether  the  direct  and  primary  reference,  in  the 
words  of  the  text,  and  in  the  connected  and  similar  lan- 
guage of  other  verses  in  this  chapter,  is  to  the  sacrament 
of  the  Lord's  Supper ;  or  in  other  words,  whether  it  is  only 
in  the  reception  of  that  sacrament  that  we  find  the 
mode  of  eating  the  flesh  and  drinking  the  blood  of  the 
Son  of  Man,  to  which  the  text  refers. 

We  have  no  idea  that,  in  the  words  before  us,  our  Lord 
had  any  direct  reference  to  the  sacrament  of  his  body  and 
blood.  We  have  no  doubt  indeed,  that  between  the  words 
of  the  text  and  the  whole  signification  of  that  sacrament, 
there  is  one  common  subject  and  reference  of  unspeak- 
able importance  —  namely,  the  death  of  Christ,  as  our  life, 
and  the  necessity  of  receiving  in  our  hearts,  by  faith,  a 
crucified  Saviour,  and  of  living  on  him  by  faith,  as  our 
bread  of  life,  daily  and  hourly.  What  the  one  teaches  in 
words,  the  other  teaches  in  symbols  ;  what  in  the  text  is 
expressed  by  figures  of  speech,  is  expressed  in  the  sacra- 
ment by  tangible  signs  and  forms.  The  text  and  the  ordi- 
nance are  thus  related  together  by  the  bond  of  a  common 


FAITH  APPROPRIATING  THE  SACRIFICE  OF  CHRIST.         261 

meaning,  but  in  no  other  way.  They  meet  at  the  cross. 
They  are  fulfilled  in  the  same  act  of  the  believer's  faith, 
by  which  he  lives  upon  Christ  for  life  eternal.  The  sacra- 
ment refers  to  the  text,  and  to  all  such  like  declarations  of 
scripture,  as  containing  the  essence  of  its  spiritual  mean- 
ing ;  but  that  in  the  words  of  the  text  there  was  any  di- 
rect or  primary  reference  to  the  subsequent  institution  of 
the  sacrament,  we  think  is  without  evidence ;  and,  for 
reasons  which  we  proceed  to  give,  should  be  strenuously 
denied. 

First.  When  our  Lord  declared  the  necessity  of  our 
eating  his  flesh  and  drinking  his  blood,  if  we  would  have 
eternal  life,  not  only  was  the  sacrament  of  the  supper  not 
instituted,  but  even  his  nearest  disciples  had  not  received 
the  least  hint  of  his  intention  to  appoint  it ;  nor  was  there 
anything  to  suggest  it  to  them,  in  any  institution  with 
which  they  were  acquainted.  Consequently,  it  was  per- 
fectly impossible  that  they  should  have  understood  him, 
if  the  receiving  of  that  sacrament  was  the  duty  in  view. 
Nothing  more  perfectly  unintelligible  in  their  circumstan- 
ces, even  to  minds  the  most  ready  to  learn  and  believe, 
can  be  imagined.  The  bare  announcement  to  them  of 
an  intention  to  institute  that  sacrament,  would  have  fur- 
nished the  key  to  his  words,  had  they  referred  thereto. 
So  that,  on  the  supposition  of  that  being  their  reference, 
it  is  not  easily  accounted  for,  that  so  much  as  even  a  hint  of 
that  intended  institution  was  withheld.  Nor  is  it  any  more 
explicable  that  St.  John,  who  alone  of  all  the  Evangel- 
ists gives  the  conversation  before  us,  should  be  the  only 
one  to  omit  all  account  of  the  explanatory  institution  of 
the  sacrament ;  his  narrative  alone  presents  the  difficulty 


262  SERMON   XII. 

to  be  solved,  and  his  alone  omits  the  necessary  explanation. 
To  those  who,  in  his  days,  and  afterwards,  had  no  gos- 
pel but  his,  as  no  doubt  was  the  case  with  many,  a  con- 
versation was  stated,  on  the  understanding  of  which,  as 
containing  a  duty,  eternal  life  depends ;  and  that  conver- 
sation referred,  for  the  only  mode  of  understanding  and 
fulfilling  the  duty,  to  the  institution  of  a  certain  sacra- 
ment, and  yet  of  that  institution  not  a  word  is  given  by 
St.  John.  So  improbable  an  omission  of  so  necessary  a 
key,  is  strong  evidence  that  the  conversation  had  no 
primary  reference  to  that  sacrament. 

I  know  it  is  answered,  that  "our  Saviour  said  many 
things  to  the  Jews  which  neither  they  nor  his  disciples 
could  understand  when  they  were  spoken,  though  his  dis- 
ciples understood  them  after  he  was  risen."  But  none  of 
those  cases  were  parallel  to  that  before  us.  If  unintelli- 
gible till  the  resurrection  or  its  connected  events  ex- 
plained them,  they  were  not  necessarily  revolting  to  all 
minds  until  so  explained.  But  here  is  a  declaration,  an 
action  required  as  essential  to  salvation,  which,  until  ex- 
plained, must,  of  necessity,  have  occasioned  a  painful  re- 
volt and  the  most  dangerous  perplexity  in  all  minds,  and 
which  therefore  demanded  immediate  explanation.  Such 
explanation,  according  to  our  view  of  the  Saviour's  mean- 
ing of  eating  his  flesh,  &c.,  was  given  in  all  that  he  had 
just  said  of  letieving  on  him  as  the  bread  of  life;  and  it 
was  more  particularly  furnished  as  soon  as  it  appeared 
that  that  previous  interpretation  had  not  been  taken.  It 
was  given  when  Jesus  said,  "  It  the  spirit  that  quickeneth, 
the  flesh  profiteth  nothing.  The  words  that  I  speak  unto 
you,  they  are  spirit,  and  they  are  life."  But  if  the  refer- 


FAITH  APPROPRIATING  THE  SACRIFICE  OF  CHRIST.        263 

ence  of  our  Lord  could  only  be  understood  by  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  eating  and  drinking  in  a  sacrament  not  then 
in  being,  not  only  were  his  hearers  utterly  unable  to  com- 
prehend his  meaning,  but  his  words  must  necessarily  have 
been  to  them  most  painfully  perplexing  and  stumbling  ; 
they  must  have  felt  that  an  action  was  required,  as 
essential  to  the  salvation  of  all  men,  which,  so  far  as  they 
could  understand  it,  was  utterly  impossible  to  all  men. 

Secondly.  If  we  suppose  our  Lord  to  have  had,  in  the  words 
before  us,  a  direct  reference  to  the  Eucharist,  as  the  only 
mode  of  eating  his  flesh  and  drinking  his  blood,  we  make 
him  then  to  have  assigned  to  that  sacrament  an  absolute 
necessity  to  the  very  being  of  spiritual  life  in  us,  which  the 
creed  of  no  portion  of  the  Christian  Church  has  ever 
maintained.  "Except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of 
man,  and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you,"  would 
thus  mean,  except  ye  partake  of  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  ye  have  no  life  in  you ;  no  spiritual  life,  even  in  its 
weakest  state ;  no  regeneration  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  no 
resurrection  from  the  death  of  sin,  no  salvation.  But 
even  the  Romanists,  who  exceed  all  others  in  the  stress 
laid  on  the  necessity  of  sacramental  participation,  cannot 
go  to  that  extent.  According  to  them,  every  baptized 
child,  though  he  may  not  yet  for  many  years  partake  in 
the  Eucharist,  is  spiritually  born  again,  and  hath  in  him 
the  divine  life  in  its  fullest  reality.  And,  in  the  view  of 
all  Protestant  churches,  whoever  truly  repents  of  his  sins, 
and  believes  with  the  heart  in  Christ,  is  thus  a  partaker  of 
the  life  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  though  he  may  not  yet 
have  had  the  opportunity  of  confirming  it  in  the  believ- 
ing reception  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  And  the  scriptures 


264  SERMON  XII. 

expressly  assure  us,  in  words  pronounced  long  before  that 
sacrament  was  known,  that  "he  that  believeth  on  the 
Son,  hath  everlasting  life;"  *  making  the  life  to  depend, 
not  on  the  sacrament,  but  simply  on  faith. 

Thirdly.  It  appears  from  all  the  conversation  of  our 
Lord  with  which  the  words  before  us  are  connected,  that 
when  he  urged  the  duty  and  necessity  of  eating  his  flesh, 
&c.,  and  when  he  declared  that  without  it  his  hearers  had 
no  life  in  them,  he  was  urging  a  duty  which  could  then  be 
performed,  and  was  warning  them  of  a  destitution  which 
could  then  be  obviated.  Where  was  the  propriety  of  say- 
ing, "  The  bread  of  God  is  he  that  cometh  down  from 
heaven  and  giveth  life  unto  the  world ;"  "  he  that  cometh 
to  me,  shall  never  hunger;"  "  he  that  eateth  of  this  bread 
shall  live  forever ;"  "  my  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  my 
blood  is  drink  indeed;"!  why  should  our  blessed  Lord 
have  exhorted  his  hearers  to  labor  after  that  very  meat, 
(v.  27)  if  it  were  not  then  prepared —  if  it  were  not  then 
attainable — if  the  institution  of  the  sacrament,  which  did 
not  take  place  till  a  year  after,  was  necessary  to  make  it 
attainable  ?  Some  of  those  who  heard  the  exhortation, 
would  die  before  that  year  would  arrive.  That  meat  was 
essential  to  their  salvation ;  without  it,  they  could  have 
no  spiritual  life ;  and  yet,  if  it  was  the  reception  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  that  was  referred  to,  they  could  not  possibly 
obtain  it  —  they  must  die  without  it. 

The  whole  tenor  of  the  chapter  from  which  we  have 
selected  the  text  compels  us  to  understand,  that,  as  in  the 
first  sentence  of  the  text,  "Except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of 
the  Son  of  Man,  and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in 

*  John  iii.  36.  f  John  vi.  33,  35,  51 ,  55. 


FAITH   APPROPRIATING   THE   SACRIFICE    OF   CHRIST      265 

you,"  our  Lord  is  speaking  of  a  necessity  as  universal 
as  the  nature  of  fallen  man;  so,  in  the  second  sentence, 
"  Whoso  eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood  hath 
eternal  life,"  he  is  speaking  of  a  remedy  equally  uni- 
versal and  applicable;  one  which  depends  not  on  any  out- 
ward circumstance,  institution,  or  privilege,  which  a  believ- 
er may,  or  may  not,  possess;  but  is  accessible  wherever 
Christ  is  known,  and  his  word  received.  Its  chosen  type 
was  the  Manna.  "Your  fathers  did  eat  manna  in  the 
wilderness  and  are  dead.  This  is  the  bread  which  cometh 
down  from  heaven,  that  a  man  may  eat  thereof  and  not 
die.'5:i  But  it  was  remarkably  the  attribute  of  that  bread 
in  the  wilderness,  that  it  was  alike  accessible  to  all  that 
needed  it.  Priestly  intervention  had  nothing  to  do  with 
its  preparation  or  distribution.  Priests  obtained  it  no 
more  easily,  or  directly,  or  abundantly,  under  no  more 
privilege,  of  any  sort,  than  the  meanest  of  the  people. 
The  family  of  Aaron  was  treated,  in  regard  to  the  common 
bread  of  Israel,  not  as  the  sacerdotal  family,  but  simply 
as  a  portion  of  the  dependent  people  of  God.  It  was 
before  the  appointment  of  the  sacramental  rites  of  the 
ceremonial  law  that  the  manna  was  first  given,  and  its 
ordinance  appointed ;  and  when  the  ceremonial  law  brought 
in  its  priesthood,  and  sacrifices,  and  sacramental  institu- 
tions, no  change  was  made  in  the  universal  freeness  of 
the  manna ;  in  its  perfect  independence  of  all  sacramen- 
tal, all  sacerdotal  agency,  in  its  being  the  unrestricted  com- 
mon bread  of  all  the  people  of  God  alike.  So  it  continued 
until  the  host  had  crossed  the  Jordan,  and  exchanged 
the  bread  of  the  wilderness  for  "  the  new  corn  "  of  the 
promised  land.  And  such  is  our  Lord's  chosen  type  of 

*John  vi.  49,50. 


266  SERMON   XII. 

his  flesh  and  blood,  as  the  living  bread  from  heaven,  with- 
out which  we  cannot  have  eternal  life.  A  type  which,  as 
it  stands  connected  with  the  whole  chapter  before  us,  com- 
pels us  to  understand,  by  the  Saviour's  flesh  and  blood,  a 
food  of  life,  which,  though  it  be  represented  under  the 
visible  elements  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  though  certain- 
ly received  by  the  believing  heart  in  that  sacrament,  is 
not  confined  to  the  reception  of  sacraments;  is  tied  to  no 
external  institution ;  is  dependent  on  no  priesthood  or 
ministry  of  man ;  comes  not  by  the  intervention  of  hu- 
man hands,  nor  can  be  prevented  from  reaching  the  needy 
by  any  human  will;  a  bread  of  which  no  persecution,  no 
poverty,  no  banishment  from  the  visible  ordinances  of  the 
the  Church,  can  deprive  the  true  believer;  a  "bread  of 
God"  which  is  not  obtained  and  eaten  only  in  the  sanc- 
tuary and  at  certain  special  times,  but,  like  the  manna,  is 
to  be  our  daily  bread ;  obtained  and  eaten  at  home,  as 
well  as  at  Church ;  by  the  faith  of  the  Christian  in  his  daily 
duties,  in  the  household  and  in  his  business,  as  really  and 
as  freely,  as  while  participating  in  the  solemnities  of  the 
sanctuary ;  a  bread  which  he  will  obtain,  abundantly,  not  in 
any  proportion  to  his  outward  ecclesiastical  privileges,  but 
simply  in  proportion  as  he  feels  his  need  of  it,  and  comes 
in  his  heart's  faith  to  Christ  to  obtain  it.  It  is  a  bread,  not 
of  the  Christian  dispensation  merely,  but  of  all  dispensa- 
tions, from  the  fall  of  man  to  the  judgment  day,  because 
the  need  of  it  is  peculiar  to  none.  It  is  that  which  unites 
the  whole  blessed  company  of  the  people  of  God,  of  all 
generations,  in  one  spiritual  communion  and  fellowship? 
whether  they  be  in  earth  or  heaven;  their  Saviour,  their 
life,  their  joy,  being  the  same;  as  it  is  written:  "They 


FAITH  APPROPRIATING  THE  SACRIFICE  OF  CHRIST.        267 

did  all  eat  the  same  spiritual  meat ;  and  did  all  drink 
the  same  spiritual  drink;  for  they  drank  of  that  spiritual 
Rock  that  followed  them  ;  and  that  Rock  was  Christ"* 

You  will  readily  perceive,  in  these  remarks,  the  inter- 
pretation I  put  on  the  words  of  the  text.  By  the  flesh 
and  blood  of  Christ,  which  we  must  receive,  I  understand 
Christ  himself.  We  must  receive  him  as  our  life,  accor- 
ding to  the  connected  verse :  "  He  that  eateth  me,  even 
he  shall  live  by  me."  (v.  57 .)  And  if  you  ask,  then,  why 
\i\sflesh  and  Hood  are  so  particularly  mentioned,  I  answer, 
because  it  is  as  having  been  once  offered  up  on  the  cross,  a 
propitiatory  sacrifice  for  our  sins,  that  we  are  to  receive  our 
Saviour;  Christ  crucified — Christ  as  having  been  "woun- 
ded" under  the  sword  of  the  law,  "  for  our  transgressions;" 
as  having  poured  out  his  precious  blood  for  the  remission 
of  our  sins.  We  must  always  keep  that  great  sacrifice, 
of  which  his  flesh  and  blood  were  the  constituents,  in  the  eye 
and  embrace  of  our  faith.  And  then  again,  by  eating  that 
flesh  and  drinking  that  blood,  I  understand  simply  that 
habitual  exercise  of  earnest  faith  in  Christ  as  the  propitia- 
tion for  our  sins  in  his  death,  and  as  our  unfailing  life,  now 
that  he  hath  ascended  to  the  right  hand  of  the  Father 
Almighty,  whereby  we  come  to  him,  trust  in  him,  appropri- 
ate his  benefits  to  our  souls,  and  live  on  the  daily  supplies  of 
his  grace ;  that  faith  which  finds  its  strongest  expression 
in  the  sacramental  eating  and  drinking  in  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, and  of  which  the  natural  faith  that  takes  us  to  our 
daily  meals,  and  makes  us  eat  our  daily  bread,  and  drink 
our  daily  cup  for  the  sustenance  of  natural  life,  is  the 
strongest  and  most  familiar  resemblance. 

In  confirmation  of  this  interpretation  of  our  Saviour's 

*  1  Cor.  x.  3-4. 


268  SERMON  XII. 

language  in  the  text,  let  me  beg  you  to  observe  in  the 
chapter  before  us,  a  remarkable  mingling  of  expressions 
entirely  literal,  with  others  highly  figurative ;  both  sets  of 
expressions  evidently  referring  to  the  same  act  on  our 
part  towards  Christ,  as  necessary  to  salvation,  and  inten- 
ded to  explain  one  another.  For  example — said  our  Lord: 
"This  is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  Him  whom 
he  hath  sent."  (v.  29.)  "He  that  believeth  on  me  hath 
everlasting  life."  (v.  47.)  This  is  all  literal.  All  is 
suspended  on  faith.  Then  comes  the  figurative.  "  I  am 
the  living  bread,  which  came  down  from  heaven.  If  any 
man  eat  of  this  bread,  he  shall  live  forever;  and  the  bread 
that  I  will  give  is  my  flesh,  which  I  will  give  for  the  life  of 
the  world."  (v.  51.)  Here,  what  was  before  expressed 
under  the  literal  believing  in  Jesus,  is  now  found  under 
the  figure  of  eating  his  flesh.  The  two  are  evidently  one, 
for  each  equally  attains  eternal  life. 

But  again,  said  the  Lord:  "This  is  the  will  of  Him  that 
sent  me,  that  every  one  which  seeth  the  Son,  and  believeth 
on  him,  may  have  everlasting  life;  and  I  will  raise  him 
up  at  the  last  day."  (v.  40.)  This  is  the  literal.  Be- 
lieving on  Christ  is  here  the  great  essential  to  salvation. 
Then  the  figurative,  precisely  parallel :  "  Whoso  eateth  my 
flesh,  and  drinketh  my  blood,  hath  eternal  life ;  and  I  will 
raise  him  up  at  the  last  day."  (v.  54.)  You  cannot  fail 
to  see  how  precisely  these  two  passages  are  speaking  of 
the  same  act  on  our  parts,  just  as  they  speak  of  the  same 
eternal  blessings  consequent  upon  it.  Believing  is  the 
literal;  eating  and  drinking  are  the  figurative.  Eternal 
life,  and  being  raised  up  at  the  last  day,  are  the  results  of 
both. 


FAITH  APPROPRIATING  THE  SACRIFICE  OF  CHRIST.        269 

But  we  perceive  the  same  yet  more  manifestly,  in  a 
verse  of  the  same  discourse  of  our  Lord,  in  which  the 
literal  and  figurative  are  mixed  together :  "  He  that  com- 
eth  to  me  shall  never  hunger,  and  he  that  believeth  on  me 
shall  never  thirst."  (v.  35.)  Here,  the  believing  in  Christ 
is  so  associated  with  the  hungering  and  thirsting,  and  conse- 
quently with  eating  and  drinking,  all  having  direct  refer- 
ence to  Christ,  that  we  cannot  doubt  it  was  our  Lord's  in- 
tention to  use  the  expressions,  coming  unto  him,  believing 
on  him,  and  eating  his  flesh,  &c.,  only  as  various  modes  of 
declaring  the  same  great  truth;  namely,  the  absolute  ne- 
cessity, and  the  saving  efficacy,  of  a  living  faith,  to 
bring  us  into  vital  union  with  Christ,  according  to  the 
testimony  of  John  the  Baptist :  "  He  that  believeth  on 
the  Son  hath  everlasting  life;  and  he  that  believeth  not 
the  Son,  shall  not  see  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth 
on  him."^ 

But  here  I  can  easily  suppose  you  to  say,  Is  there 
not  something  very  unnatural — a  use  of  figurative  lan- 
guage exceedingly  forced  and  extravagant,  in  speaking  of 
the  simple  act  of  faith  in  Christ,  as  if  it  were  an  eating  of 
his  flesh,  and  a  drinJcing  of  his  blood? 

We  answer,  that  modes  of  expression,  which,  when  de- 
tached from  their  context,  seem  most  unnatural  and 
forced,  often  appear  the  reverse  when  seen  in  their  proper 
place,  with  all  the  connections  and  circumstances  of  the 
discourse  around  them.  Let  us  see  if  the  language  be- 
fore us  does  not  illustrate  this  remark. 

Our  Lord  had  just  fed  the  five  thousand,  by  the  mirac- 
ulous multiplication  of  the  five  loaves  and  the  two  fishes. 

*  John  iii.  36. 


270  SERMON  XII. 

In  consequence  of  that  miracle,  a  great  multitude  fol- 
lowed him.  Knowing  their  motive,  he  said  to  them:  "Ye 
seek  me,  not  because  ye  saw  the  miracle,  but  because  ye 
did  eat  of  the  loaves,  and  were  filled.  Labor  not  for  the 
meat  which  perisheth,  but  for  that  meat  which  endureth 
unto  everlasting  life,  which  the  Son  of  Man  shall  give  unto 
you.  (v.  26  and  27.)  Having  thus,  from  the  recent  dis- 
tribution of  temporal  food,  naturally  and  easily  intro- 
duced the  sustenance  of  our  spiritual  life,  under  the  figu- 
rative expression  of  the  "meat  which  endureth  unto 
everlasting  life,"  he  is  next  led,  by  his  hearers  having 
adverted  to  the  manna  which  their  fathers  ate  in  the  wil- 
derness, to  speak  of  "the  true  bread  from  heaven,"  of 
which  that  manna  was  the  type.  (v.  31-35.)  The  next 
step  was  to  say,  that  he  himself  was  that  true  bread  of 
God,  "the  meat  which  endureth  unto  everlasting  life." 
And  then,  since  he  became  that  life  to  us,  only  by  giving 
his  flesh  and  blood  as  an  atoning  sacrifice  for  our  sins,  the 
transition  was  easy  and  natural,  from  saying,  "I  am  the 
living  bread,"  to  saying,  "  the  bread  that  I  will  give  is  my 
flesh,  which  I  will  give  for  the  life  of  the  world;"  (v.  51.) 
and  thence  again  to  saying,  "  My  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and 
my  blood  is  drink  indeed."  (v.  55.)  And  next,  as  he  had 
just  before  spoken  of  believing  in  him,  as  the  way  by 
which  sinners  are  to  participate  in  the  benefits  of  the  sac- 
rifice of  his  flesh  and  blood,  there  was  an  easy  step  to  the 
representation  of  that  believing,  by  the  figure  of  eating 
his  flesh  and  drinking  his  blood. 

Thus  we  have  reached  the  height  of  the  figurative  lan- 
guage of  the  text  by  an  easy  gradation,  from  step  to 
step,  till  what,  if  introduced  without  such  preliminaries, 


FAITH  APPROPRIATING  THE  SACRIFICE  OF  CHRIST.       271 

would  have  seemed  unnatural,  appears  in  connection  with 
them,  only  appropriate  to,  and  consistent  with,  the  whole 
preceding  discourse.* 

And  now  having  seen  the  appropriateness  of  the  lan- 
guage before  us,  and  its  true  interpretation,  let  us  devote 
the  remainder  of  our  time  to  the  consideration  of  the 
practical  lessons  it  teaches. 

1st  Let  us  observe  the  eminent,  the  unequalled,  prom- 
inence in  which  the  death  of  Christ  is  here  placed  before 
our  hearts,  for  the  daily  contemplation  of  our  faith. 

At  first,  our  Saviour  only  said,  "  I  am  the  bread  of 
life."  But  next  he  said,  "The  bread  that  I  will  give  is 
my  flesh,  which  I  will  give  for  the  life  of  the  world." 
"Except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  drink 
his  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you."  Why  this  particular 
mention  of  his  flesh  and  his  blood,  as  if,  in  being  our 

*For  a  truly  able  and  learned  treatise  on  the  language  of  the  text,  and  the 
whole  connected  discourse  of  our  Lord ,  with  reference  to  the  support  of  the 
views  maintained  in  the  above  discourse,  and  in  reply  to  those  of  Cardinal 
Wiseman,  in  his  book  on  the  Eucharist,  see  the  Essay  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Turner, 
the  learned  Professor  of  Biblical  Literature  in  the  Gen.  Theol.  Sem.  of  the  P. 
E.  Ch.,  (published  by  the  Harpers,  N  Y.,)  entitled,  "Essay  on  our  Lord's 
discourse  at  Capernaum,"  (12  mo.)  In  connection  with  the  above  consideration 
of  the  strength  of  the  figurative  language  of  the  text,  <fcc.,  the  reader  will  do 
well  to  see  what  Dr.  Turner  has  produced,  (pp.  82 — 94,)  from  the  scriptures 
and  from  Jewish  writers,  showing  that  such  language  was  current  among  the 
people  whom  our  Lord  addressed.  I  confine  myself  to  a  single  passage  from 
the  Babylonish  Talmud,  as  quoted  by  Dr.  Turner  :  "  Rabbi  Hillel  says,  N"ot 
for  them,  for  Israel,  is  Messiah;  for  a  long  time  ago  they  ate  Mm,  in  the  days  of 
Hezekiah."  On  which  passage,  Dr.  Lightfoot,  that  great  Master- critic,  makes 
the  following  observations:  "Behold,  eating  the  Messiah,  and  yet  no  complaints 
upon  the  phraseology.  Hillel  is  indeed  blamed  (in  the  Talmud,)  for  saying 
that  the  Messiah  was  so  eaten  that  he  will  no  longer  be  for  Israel ;  but  on  the  form 
of  speech  not  the  slightest  scruple  is  expressed.  For  they  clearly  understood  what 
was  meant  by  the  eating  of  the  Messiah  ;  that  is,  that  in  the  days  of  Hezekiah 
they  became  partakers  of  the  Messiah,  received  him  with  avidity,  embraced  him  joy- 
fully, and,  as  it  were,  absorbed  him;  whence  he  was  not  to  be  expected  at  any 
future  period." — Dr.  Turner's  Essay,  p.  68. 


272  SERMON   XII. 

bread  of  life,  they  were  to  be  separated,  one  from  another? 
Why  would  it  not  suffice  to  have  spoken  of  himself,  in  the 
integrity  of  his  human  nature,  as  our  living  bread  ?  We 
answer,  because  he  desired  to  teach  us,  most  impressively, 
that  the  great  event  by  which  he  became  the  bread  of  life, 
to  all  generations,  as  well  to  those  before,  as  those  after 
his  crucifixion,  was  his  death.,  when  he  offered  himself  as  a 
propitiatory  sacrifice  to  God;  when  his  flesh  was  wounded, 
and  his  blood  was  poured  out  for  the  remission  of  sins ; 
that  it  was  not  by  coming  in  our  nature,  but  by  his  be- 
coming "  obedient  unto  death  "  in  that  nature ;  not  by  his 
being  sent  forth  from  God,  and  "  made  of  a  woman,  made 
under  the  law,"  "  that  he  redeemed  those  who  were  under 
the  law,"*  but  by  enduring  in  his  death  the  penalty  of 
the  law  for  them ;  not  his  incarnation,  by  which  he  became 
man;  not  the  example  and  teaching  of  his  perfect  life 
whereby  he  became  the  guide  of  man;  but  his  death, 
wherein  he  completed  his  obedience  as  our  surety,  and 
paid  our  debt  to  a  violated  law,  and  brought  us  nigh  to 
God,  "that  we  might  receive  the  adoption  of  sons." 

He  desired  to  teach,  in  a  manner  too  impressive  to  be 
forgotten,  that  the  great  objective  event  in  Christianity, 
around  which  the  whole  system  of  our  faith  is  concentrated ; 
that  which,  like  the  brazen  serpent,  lifted  up  on  high  for 
all  that  were  dying  among  the  Israelites  to  behold,  should 
be  ever  the  most  exalted  and  the  most  distinctly  in  the 
view  of  our  faith,  is  "Christ  crucified ;"  Christ  who  indeed 
"  was  made  man,"  but  that  he  might  die  for  man ;  Christ, 
who  being  without  sin  in  his  life,  was  in  his  death  "  made 
sin  for  us,  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God 

Gal.  iv.  4  6. 


FAITH  APPROPRIATING  THE  SACRIFICE  OF  CHRIST.       273 

in  him."*     The  ripe  corn  is  not  prepared  to  be  our  bread, 
till  it  is  broken,  and  has  endured  the  fire.     Jesus  became 
not  the  bread  of  life  to  dying  man,  but  by  being  "  wounded 
for  our  transgressions  and  bruised  for  our  iniquities  ;"  by 
enduring  the  "  consuming  fire  "  of  the  wrath  of  God  in 
our  stead.     The  Atonement !  the  Atonement !  that  "full, 
perfect,  and  sufficient  sacrifice,  oblation,  and  satisfaction 
for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,"  is  the  central  point,  the 
great  objective  event,  in  Christianity.     There  our  faith 
must  fix  its  trust.     There  our  hope  must  abide  as  its 
refuge.     Oh  !  how  little  we  know  of  believing  in  Jesus ; 
how  little  we  have  really  learned  of  what  he  is  to  sinners, 
if  we  have  not  learned  thus  to  lift  up  in  our  hearts  a  cruci- 
fied Saviour,  Jesus,  in  his  death,  as  the  great  light  of  our 
life  and  joy  of  our  hope.     His  "  flesh  is  meat  indeed," 
his  "blood  is  drink  indeed,"  when  thus  contemplated  and 
received.     Hence,  though  St.  Paul  appreciated  as  thank- 
fully and  devoutly  as  any  man  that  ever  lived,  every  event 
in  the  Saviour's  earthly  mission,  he  did  not  say,  God  for- 
bid that  I  should  glory,  save  in  the  incarnation  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  or  save  in  his  holy  example  and  unex- 
ampled teaching.    But  what  did  he  say?  "God  forbid  that 
I  should  glory,  save  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."! 
And  when  he  would  designate  the  great  burden  of  his 
preaching  and  that  of  his  brother  Apostles,  it  was  not, 
"We  preach  Christ  in  the  several  steps  of  his  mission, 
from  the  day  of  his  being  born  of  a  virgin,  to  the  moment 
when  he  ascended  into  the  heavens;  though  all,  of  course, 
received  at  their  hands  the  rightful  attention ;  but  it  was, 
"We  preach  Christ  crucified" 

*2  Cor.  v.  21.  fGal.  vi.  14. 

18 


274  SERMON   XII. 

Precisely  of  the  same  tenor  is  the  teaching  of  the  sac- 
rament of  the  Lord's  Supper,  which  is  the  visible  preach- 
ing of  Christ  crucified,  the  visible  glorying  of  the  commu- 
nicant only  in  the  cross  of  Christ.  "As  often  (said  the 
Apostle,)  as  ye  eat  this  bread  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do  shotv 
the  Lord"  s  death  till  he  come"*  The  Lord's  death!  Why 
should  we  so  especially  show  forth  his  death,  rather  than 
his  wonderful  birth  and  works  ?  Was  it  not  Jesus  living  in 
the  perpetual  manifestation  of  a  perfect  holiness,  and  sur- 
rounded on  every  side  with  his  miraculous  works  of  love, 
that  most  commended  his  mission  to  the  acceptance  of  the 
world?  And  was  it  not  Jesus  dying  on  the  cross,  not  de- 
livered from  an  ignominious  death  either  by  his  own  pow- 
er, nor  that  of  the  Father,  that  seemed  the  greatest 
offense  of  his  mission,  in  the  sight  of  the  world ;  "  to  the 
Jews  a  stumbling  block,  and  to  the  Greeks  foolishness?" 
And  yet  it  is  Jesus  dying  and  dead  on  the  cross,  in  all  the 
deep  humiliation  and  ignominy,  the  mocking  and  scoffing 
of  the  crucifixion,  that  is  chosen  as  the  event  to  be  held 
up  and  showed  forth  by  the  whole  Christian  Church,  in 
this  its  solemn  and  only  repeated  sacrament,  by  all  gene- 
rations, till  the  Saviour  comes  again !  Why  is  this  ? 
Why  was  no  sacrament  appointed  for  the  special  com- 
memoration of  some  other  event  in  the  mission  of  Christ? 
Why,  when  the  household  of  faith  is  gathered  together  to 
keep,  under  the  form  of  the  sacramental  supper,  the  feast 
of  their  Saviour's  love,  and  to  commemorate  his  death, 
why  is  nothing  exhibited  on  the  table  but  symbols  of  his 
flesh  and  blood?  Why  are  those  symbols  exhibited  only  in 
the  form  of  bread,  the  type  of  all  nourishment,  and  of 

*  1  Cor.  xi.  26. 


FAITH  APPROPRIATING  THE  SACRIFICE  OF  CHRIST.       275 

wine,  the  type  of  all  refreshment  and  joy  ?     Why  is  that 
table,  with  that  its  simple  furniture,  so  indispensable  to 
the  very  being  of  the  visible  church;  so  that  in  every  con- 
gregation, in  every  land,  by  every  believer,  before  all  the 
world,  till  the  second  appearing  of  our  Lord,  there  must 
be  so  frequently  repeated  that  solemn,  sacramental  show- 
ing forth  of  his  death,  as  if,  in  some  sense,  our  all  were 
centered  there,  as  if  our  glorying  were  all  to  be  there,  as 
if  that  were  the  banner  under  which  the  whole  Christian 
host  must  be  marshalled  ?     Why,  but   to   teach  in  the 
strongest  manner,  and  to  keep  before  the  Church  and  the 
world,  in  the  utmost  prominence  and  impressiveness,  these 
two  momentous  truths,  namely,  that  of  all  events  in  the 
Saviour's  work  on  earth,  the  sacrifice  offered  in  his  death 
for  our  sins,  must  be  our  refuge,  our  hope,  our  glory,  the 
strength  of  our  salvation,  the  song  of  our  praise;  and  that 
that  sacrifice  must  be  received  and  appropriated  by  a  liv- 
ing faith  to  our  several  necessities  as  our  daily  bread  of 
life,  or  else  our  hope  is  vain,  and  we  are  yet  in  our  sins? 
What  is  it  all,  but  just,  in  another  form,  the  teaching  of 
our  text:  "Except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  Man, 
and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you  ?"     And  what 
is  the  object  of  the  very  strong  and  remarkable  language 
of  the  text,  but  to  do  in  words  what  the  sacrament  does  in 
visible  symbols,  namely,  to  make  those  two  great  vital 
truths  as  conspicuous  and  impressive  as  possible? 

2nd.  Let  us  observe  also  the  impressive  light  in  which 
the  nature  and  operation  of  faith  are  represented  in  the 
text. 

The  corporeal  act  of  eating  our  daily  food  is  chosen  by 
our  Lord  to  illustrate  what  faith  is  in  its  relations  to  him; 


276  SERMON   XII. 

what  it  implies,  what  it  does,  and  what  is  its  absolutely 
essential  relation  to  all  spiritual  life  in  us.  The  believer 
is  represented  as  coming  to  Christ,  as  the  hungry  and 
perishing  come  to  an  abundant  banquet.  Faith  expects 
not  to  partake  of  that  feast  by  merely  knowing  it  has 
been  provided,  or  by  standing  away  and  looking  thereat 
and  acknowledging  the  grace  that  gave  it,  confessing  that 
Christ  has  come  in  the  flesh  and  has  died  for  our  sins ; 
but  only  by  actual  appropriation  of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ, 
and  all  the  benefits  connected  therewith,  to  the  deep  ne- 
cessities of  the  soul. 

Such  faith  implies  a  sense  of  great  spiritual  want  and 
an  earnest  desire  after  those  very  supplies  which  are  found 
in  Christ. 

We  do  not  ordinarily  partake  of  food  but  when  we  feel 
the  need  of  it.  We  hunger,  and  therefore  eat.  No  man 
ever  came  to  Christ  in  a  saving  faith,  to  take  and  live  by 
that  bread  of  life,  saying  in  his  heart,  "Lord,  evermore 
give  me  that  bread"  who  was  not  first  brought  to  feel  that 
without  it  he  must  die  in  his  sins,  and  in  whose  heart 
there  had  not  been  created  so  strong  a  desire  after  just 
such  grace  as  is  treasured  in  Christ  for  sinners,  that  he 
was  importunate  to  get  to  him,  and  felt  there  was  no 
peace  or  life  with  God,  till  he  had  found  him. 

Again,  it  is  implied  in  the  text  that  a  saving  faith 
makes  a  personal,  individual  appropriation  of  Christ,  to  the 
case  of  each  believer,  bringing  all  that  his  death  obtain- 
ed, into  direct  application  to  the  sinner's  wants.* 

It  is  not  by  believing  that  there  is  bread  for  us,  that  it 
benefits  us ;  but  by  acting  on  our  belief  and  eating  of  the 

*  "  Thy  words  were  found,  and  I  did  eat  them."    Jer.  XT.   16. 


FAITH  APPROPRIATING  THE  SACRIFICE  OF  CHRIST.         277 

bread.  We  do  not  derive  nourishment  and  strength  from 
food  prepared  for  us,  however  graciously,  and  abundantly, 
and  freely,  but  by  receiving  it,  and  digesting  it,  till  it  be- 
comes distributed,  in  its  several  parts,  to  all  the  functions 
of  our  bodies,  as  each  has  need,  and  becomes  incorporated 
in  a  living  union  with  us,  as  bone  of  our  bone  and  flesh  of 
our  flesh. 

Thus  does  a  living,  saving  faith,  receive  and  appropriate 
Christ.  Thus  does  it  make  his  "flesh  meat  indeed,  and 
his  blood  drink  indeed,"  using  him  as  the  soul's  bread. 
It  receives  Christ  crucified  as  the  one  only,  and  the  one 
"perfect  and  sufficient,  oblation  and  satisfaction"  for  our 
sins.  It  receives  him  in  all  the  offices  he  sustains  to  us, 
in  all  the  saving  mercies  that  flow  from  the  perpetual  pre- 
sentation of  his  sacrifice  before  God  on  high ;  it  receives 
him  as  still  bearing  towards  us  all  the  love  that  brought 
him  to  die  for  us,  and  as  ready  to  fulfill  all  the  promises 
which  that  love  has  made  to  us;  it  digests  all  in  prayer- 
ful meditation,  and  in  the  believing  use  of,  and  reliance  on 
all;  it  appropriates  and  distributes  all,  in  the  several 
parts  thereof,  to  the  several  affections,  and  principles,  and 
duties,  and  trials,  of  the  Christian  life,  as '  each  hath  need ; 
it  incorporates  all,  as  living  bread,  into  personal,  vital 
union  with  the  inner  man,  as  the  very  being,  as  well  as  the 
only  sustenance,  of  our  Christian  life.  The  heart  is  thus 
fed  and  grows  in  grace.  The  love  of  God  in  Christ  be- 
comes in  our  hearts  more  and  more  supreme  and  con- 
straining, sin  more  abhorred  and  feared,  the  world  more 
overcome,  the  mind  more  spiritual,  strength  for  every 
conflict  with  temptation,  zeal  for  every  labor  in  the  service 
of  God,  increased — all  our  affections  more  strongly  set 


278  SERMON  XII. 

"on  things  above,  where  Christ  sitteth  on  the  right  hand 
of  God." 

Again,  the  language  of  the  text  implies  that  such  is 
the  daily,  the  habitual  operation  of  a  saving  faith.  When 
the  Israelites  lived  upon  the  manna  in  the  desert,  it  was 
the  bread  of  every  day.  It  came  daily ;  it  had  to  be 
gathered  and  eaten  daily;  they  could  not  keep  it  for  the 
morrow.  Each  day  must  have  its  own  gathering  and 
receiving.  So  is  Christ,  whom  that  manna  represented. 
He  is  provided  for  daily  wants,  and  must  be  appropriated 
daily  and  habitually.  There  is  no  place  where  a  believer 
can  be  in  this  wilderness,  that  he  may  not  find  there 
"that  bread  which  cometh  down  from  heaven,  so  that  he 
may  eat  thereof  and  not  die ;"  and  there  is  no  day  or 
hour  in  this  wilderness  when  the  believer  should  not,  and 
has  not  need  to  take  of  that  bread. 

Saving  faith  does  not  wait  for  the  sacramental  signs 
and  pledges  of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  before  it  will  take 
of  that  sacrifice.  Its  language  of  praise  at  all  times,  is, 
"  Christ  our  passover  is  sacrificed  for  us  ;  therefore,  let  us 
keep  the  feast"  It  is  a  feast  upon  the  sacrifice  once 
offered  for  all- — a  feast  then  begun,  ever  since  continued 
in  every  believing  heart,  now  going  on  everywhere,  as 
sinners  live  by  faith  in  Christ  and  his  sacrifice.  This 
bread  of  God  enters  into,  and  is  necessary  to,  our  spir- 
itual life  each  hour  and  moment.  So  must  we  receive  it. 
It  is  the  nourishment  of  the  daily  secret  prayer  that  asks 
for  it.  It  is  the  nourishment  of  the  habitual  faith  that 
receives  and  appropriates  it.  It  is  the  bread  that  feeds 
our  love  and  thankfulness,  when  we  go  to  express  our 
dependence  on  it,  and  our  gratitude  for  it,  and  to  seek 


FAITH  APPROPRIATING  THE  SACRIFICE  OF  CHRIST.       279 

more  of  it  in  the  sacrament  by  which  it  is  represented. 
We  must  take  and  eat  of  it  before  we  approach  its 
sacramental  table,  or  else  we  shall  be  dead  while  we  sit 
there.  We  cannot  feed  on  Christ  "by  faith  with  thanks- 
giving" in  the  sacrament,  except  we  have  already  begun 
to  live  on  him  by  faith  with  thanksgiving,  in  our  daily 
walk.*  The  life  that  we  live  in  the  flesh,  if  it  be  a 
Christian  life,  if  it  be  the  life  that  is  hid  with  Christ  in 
God,  must  be  "a  life  of  faith  on  the  Son  of  God,"  the 
habitual  coming  of  our  hearts  to  Christ. 

And  now,  in  conclusion,  let  me  speak  more  particularly 
concerning  that  holy  sacrament  in  which  we  are  to  com- 
mune to-day. 

In  the  early  part  of  this  discourse,  it  was  said  that  in 
the  words  of  the  text,  speaking  of  the  necessity  of  eat- 
ing the  flesh  and  drinking  the  blood  of  Christ,  there  is 
no  direct  primary  reference  to  the  sacrament  of  his  flesh 
and  blood;  that  the  text  and  the  sacrament  speak,  in 
different  ways,  precisely  the  same  language,  and  enforce 


*  Our  Church,  in  the  3d  Rubric  of  the  Office  for  the  Communion  of  the  Sick, 
says  :  "If  a  man,  by  reason  of  extremity  of  sickness,  *  *  or  any  other  just 
impediment,  do  not  receive  the  sacrament  of  Christ's  body  and  blood,  the  min- 
ister shall  instruct  him  that  if  he  do  truly  repent  him  of  his  sins,  and  steadfastly 
believe,  &c.,  he  doth  cat  and  drink  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  to  Ms  soul's 
health,  although  he  do  not  receive  the  sacrament  with  his  mouth."  Jerome  says : 
"  We  are  fed  with  the  body  of  Christ,  and  we  drink  his  blood,  not  only  in  mys- 
tery, (in  the  sacrament,)  but  also  in  the  knowledge  of  holy  scripture."  The 
like  language  is  common  in  the  writings  of  the  early  fathers.  Our  28th  article 
says:  "The  body  of  Christ  is  given,  taken  and  received  in  the  supper,  only 
after  an  heavenly  and  spiritual  manner.  And  the  mean  whereby  the  body  of 
Christ  is  received  and  eaten  in  the  supper,  is  faith."  The  29th  article  says  : 
"  The  wicked,  and  such  as  be  void  of  a  lively  faith,  although  they  do  visibly 
and  carnally  press  with  their  teeth  the  sacrament  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ,  yet  in  no  wise  are  they  partakers  of  Christ."  How  prominent,  through- 
out our  communion  office,  is  faith,  as  essential  to  partaking  in  Christ,  in  the 
sacrament ! 


280  SERMON   XII. 

precisely  the  same  lesson.  They  are  related  to  one  an- 
other by  a  common  meaning  and  object.  What  one  ex- 
presses in  signs  of  words,  the  other  expresses  in  the  signs 
of  bread  and  wine,  and  in  our  eating  and  drinking  of  the 
same.  But  we  think  it  of  great  importance  to  keep  dis- 
tinctly before  you  the  truth,  that  what  the  text  expresses 
and  requires,  is  not  fulfilled  in  the  mere  carnal  reception 
of  the  bread  and  wine  in  the  sacrament;  nor  is  so  confined 
to  the  sacrament,  however  spiritually  received,  that  it  can 
not  go  on,  and  must  not  go  on,  away  from  it,  as  truly  as 
in  it ;  in  the  daily  exercise  of  a  living  faith,  in  our  secret 
prayers,  in  our  retired  meditations,  in  reading  and  hear- 
ing the  word  of  God,  in  a  continual  resting  of  our  souls 
upon  the  all-sufficiency  of  our  ever-living  and  ever-present 
Saviour. 

But  in  being  thus  emphatic  here,  we  are  exceeding 
far  from  teaching,  that  therefore,  to  obey  our  Lord's  sol- 
emn command,  by  partaking  of  the  sacrament  of  his  death, 
and  receiving  therein,  spiritually,  by  faith,  his  flesh  and 
blood,  is  needless,  or  is  not  a  most  precious  privilege  and 
a  most  bounden  duty,  which  cannot  be  neglected  without 
peril  to  the  soul.  Though  there  be  other  means  of  grace 
whereby  we  may  partake  in  the  same  benefits,  this  is  the 
means  in  which  all  others  are  combined  and  intensely 
concentrated.  It  is  emphatically  "  the  communion." 
Though  elsewhere,  and  at  all  times,  it  is  the  believer's 
privilege  to  hold  communion  with  his  blessed  Lord,  "in 
the  fellowship  of  his  sufferings,"  in  the  participation  of 
the  precious  benefits  of  his  passion;  there  are  here  helps 
to  faith,  incitements  to  love,  pledges  of  grace,  and  mani- 
festations of  our  fellowship  in  Christ,  and  with  one  anoth- 


FAITH  APPROPRIATING  THE  SACRIFICE  OF  CHRIST.       281 

er,  which  make  the  Supper  of  our  Lord  peculiarly  pre- 
cious and  edifying  to  the  believer.  At  other  times,  we 
partake  more  by  ourselves,  each  in  the  unseen  prayer  of 
his  heart,  in  the  exercise  of  his  hidden,  habitual  faith. 
Our  "fellowship  one  with  another,"  in  our  common  Lord 
and  life,  is  not  so  distinctly  expressed.  We  are  "one 
body  in  Christ,"  but  even  in  our  usual  public  worship  and 
common  prayer  of  the  Lord's  day,  our  oneness  is  not  so 
impressively  and  delightfully  written  on  all  we  do.  But 
when  we  gather  around  the  simple  table  of  our  Lord's 
redeeming  love,  all  taking  of  that  same  bread,  all  drink- 
ing of  that  same  cup,  all  looking  through  those  visible 
signs  to  the  great  sacrifice  which  they  represent,  all  lifting 
up  our  hearts  to  him  "who  was  dead  and  is  alive  again," 
and  who  ever  liveth — the  life  and  salvation  of  all  that  seek 
him ;  all  saying,  in  every  act  of  that  communion,  that  they 
come  only  to  Christ,  and  desire  none  but  Christ,  and  him 
crucified,  as  their  hope  and  refuge,  their  life  and  all ; — oh! 
in  that  gathering  together  of  believers  to  that  one  table, 
not  as  merely  in  the  one  house  of  worship  where  ^ve  may 
happen  to  be,  but  as  taking  place  in  union  with  us,  in 
so  many  thousands  of  assemblies  of  the  people  of  God 
in  various  lands,  all  thus  united  in  showing  "  the  Lord's 
death  until  he  come ;"  then  do  we  express,  then  do  we 
feel,  then  do  we  rejoice  in,  "  the  communion  of  saints"  in 
our  union  together  in  the  common  hope,  and  the  common 
life,  and  the  common  salvation,  of  Christ;  then  is  the  love 
of  the  brethren  quickened,  and  the  love  of  the  Lord  of  the 
household  increased  in  our  hearts,  when  thus  we  feel  that 
we  are  marching  together,  as  one  host,  under  one  head,  to 
one  conquest  and  home,  showing  out  upon  our  banner 


282  SERMON   XII. 

"  the  Lord's  death,'1  and  each  saying,  in  every  act,  "  God 
forbid  that  I  should  glory,  save  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord- 
Jesus  Christ"* 

But,  my  dear  brethren,  precious  as  that  sacrament  is,  it 
is  but  a  sacrament,  a  mere  sign  without  grace,  a  dead.1 
sign,  if  the  receiver's  heart  be  so  dead  as  not  to  have  the 
living  faith,  by  which  to  get  within  and  mount  above  the 
visible  sign,  and  commune  in  spirit  with  an  unseen  Christ. 
What  if  I  should  tell  you  that  the  mere  receiving  the 
words  of  my  text  into  your  ears,  without  faith  to  appro- 
priate their  doctrine  to  your  souls,  would  convey  to  you 
the  benefits  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ?  Who 
would  credit  such  an  assurance?  But  why  should  you 
any  more  believe  that  the  mere  receiving  into  your  mouths 
the  signs  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  without  faith  to  go  from 
them  to  Christ,  will  make  you  partakers  in  any  benefit  of 
his  passion?  Are  not  the  words  of  the  text  as  really 
signs  of  saving  truth  in  Christ,  and  as  divinely  given,  as 
those  of  the  sacrament  ?  Are  not  the  signs  in  the  sac- 
rament as  truly  words  for  us  to  read,'  as  the  words  in  the 
text?  And  if  the  word  preached,  in  the  sermon,  will  not 
profit  except  it  be  mixed  with  faith  in  them  that  hear  it, 

*  What  I  would  express  in  regard  to  the  special  preciousness  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  as  a  means  of  receiving  Christ  by  faith,  is  very  happily  given  in  a  ser- 
mon by  Bradford,  the  martyr :  "  Though  in  the  field  a  man  may  receive  Christ's 
body  by  faith,  in  the  meditation  of  his  word,  yet  deny  I  that  a  man  doth  ordi- 
narily receive  Christ's  body  by  the  only  meditation  of  Christ's  death,  or  hearing 
his  word,  with  so  much  light,  and  with  such  sensible  assurance,  as  by  the 
receipt  of  the  sacrament.  Not  that  Christ  is  not  as  much  presented  in  his 
word  preached,  as  he  is  in  or  with  his  sacrament,  but  because  there  are  in  the 
reception  of  the  sacrament  more  windows  open  for  Christ  to  enter  into  us,  than 
by  his  word  preached  or  read.  For  there  (I  mean  in  the  word)  he  hath  an 
entrance  into  our  hearts,  but  only  by  the  ears,  through  the  voice  and  sound  of 
words ;  but  here  in  the  sacrament,  he  hath  an  entrance  by  all  the  senses." 
— On  the  Lord's  Supper. 


FAITH  APPROPRIATING  THE  SACRIFICE  OF  CHRIST.      283 

no  more  will  the  word  exhibited  in  the  signs  of  the  sacra- 
ment, except  it  be  mixed  with  faith  in  them  that  re- 
ceive it.  To  him  that  hears  the  written  word  of  truth 
and  life,  without  faith  inwardly  to  digest  and  appropriate 
it,  it  is  but  a  minister  of  condemnation.  To  him  who 
receives  the  sacramental  words  of  the  same  truth  and  life, 
in  the  same  deadness,  the  same  condemnation  must  en- 
sue. We  must  go  to  the  Supper  of  our  Lord,  to  the  house- 
hold feast  of  his  family  and  brethren,  not  to  be  made 
his,  but  to  profess  that  we  are  his,  and  to  be  made 
more  entirely  his ;  to  have  a  life,  already  begun  in  faith, 
strengthened  and  refreshed.  It  is  a  table  for  the  living, 
not  for  the  dead — for  members  of  the  Lord's  family; 
not  for  those  also  who  may  only  in  name  and  form  be- 
long thereto.  "Judge  therefore  yourselves,  brethren, 
that  ye  be  not  judged  of  the  Lord.  Repent  ye  truly 
for  your  sins  past;  have  a  lively  and  steadfast  faith 
in  Christ  our  Saviour;  amend  your  lives,  and  be  in  per- 
fect charity  with  all  men :  so  shall  ye  be  meet  parta- 
kers of  those  holy  mysteries." 


SERMON  IIII. 

THE  CHARACTER  OF  GOD  AS  MANIFESTED  IN  CHRIST. 


1  JOHN  iv.  8,  9. 

"He  that  loveth  not,  knoweth  not  God;  for  God  is  love.  In  this  was 
manifested  the  love  of  God  towards  us,  because  that  God  sent  his  only 
begotten  Son  into  the  world,  that  we  might  live  through  him." 

"Goo  is  Love."  What  an  engaging  representation  of 
the  Most  High!  How  simple,  how  comprehensive! 
Where,  but  in  his  own  inspired  word,  is  there  to  be  found 
such  a  declaration  of  his  essential  nature?  Many  other 
oracles  have  said,  God  is  almighty,  all-wise,  infinite  in 
goodness,  &c. ;  but  it  remained  for  his  own  book  to  say, 
"God  is  Love." 

This  declaration  occupies  the  central  position  of  the 
text.  What  precedes,  is  inferred  from  it :  "  He  that 
loveth  not,  Jcnoweth  not  God;  for  God  is  love"  What  fol- 
lows, is  its  chief  manifestation :  "  In  this  ^vas  manifested 
the  love  of  God  towards  us,  because  God  sent  his  only  begot- 
ten Son"  &c.  We  will  consider,  first,  the  central  truth; 
secondly,  its  chief  manifestation;  and  thirdly,  the  inferen- 
ces from  it. 

I.    The  central  declaration  of  the  text — "  God  is  Love" 
It  is  a  comprehensive  expression  for  the  whole  nature 
of  God;  not  for  a  single  attribute,  but  for  the  sum  and  har- 
mony of  all  his  attributes.     You  read  in  the  scriptures, 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  GOD  AS  MANIFESTED  IN  CHRIST.     285 

very  often,  that  God  is  holy,  but  never  that  God  is  holi- 
ness; that  he  is  just,  but  never  that  he  is  justice;  that 
he  is  merciful,  but  never  that  he  is  mercy.  Holiness, 
and  justice,  and  goodness,  and  mercy,  are  severally, 
according  to  our  feeble  way  of  understanding  and  speak- 
ing of,  God,  the  attributes  of  his  nature.  Neither  of 
them  can  stand  as  a  comprehensive  expression  for  his  na- 
ture itself,  in  its  whole  compass  and  perfectness.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  love  is  not  an  attribute  of  the  divine 
nature,  like  holiness,  wisdom,  &c.  It  is  that  nature  itself. 
It  is  the  comprehension  of  all  the  moral  attributes  in 
their  harmonious  relations  to  one  another. 

There  is  a  similar  expression  in  the  scriptures :  "  Go d  is 
Light"*  It  is  but  another  aspect  of  the  other.  God  is 
Light,  as  he  is  Love.  The  one  is  the  figurative,  the  other 
the  literal.  We  will  employ  the  one  expression  to  illus- 
trate the  other.  The  truth  that  God  is  lAghi,  shall  guide 
us  in  setting  forth  the  truth  that  God  is  Love- 

Now,  you  are  well  aware,  in  regard  to  light,  in  its  pure, 
original  state,  as  it  comes,  unchanged,  from  the  face  of 
the  sun,  that  it  is  perfectly  white.  But  you  also  know, 
that  the  moment  you  cause  its  ray  to  pass  through  a 
glass  of  a  certain  form,  it  is  separated  into  seven  varie- 
ties of  color,  and  the  white  has  all  disappeared.  You 
have  all  the  beautiful  shades  of  the  rainbow,  but  nothing 
of  the  original  aspect  of  the  light.  But  by  causing  those 
several  varieties  of  colored  rays  to  fall  upon  another  sur- 
face, you  find  they  all  disappear,  and  the  original  white  is 
restored.  And  thus,  it  is  perceived,  that  the  whiteness 
of  the  solar  ray,  in  its  original  state,  is  not  an  attribute  of 

*  1  John  i.  5. 


286  SERMON  XIII. 

light,  but  is  the  light;  not  a  mere  variety  or  property 
which  light  exhibits,  under  certain  circumstances,  like 
the  red,  or  blue,  or  violet,  of  the  rainbow ;  but  light  itself, 
in  its  unbroken,  primitive  perfectness.  Broken  up  and 
decomposed  by  the  prism,  its  parts  exhibit  various  colors. 
Those  parts  being  recomposed,  so  as  to  make  up  the  ray 
in  its  first  integrity,  there  is  no  color  remaining.  The 
several  hues  which  the  decomposed  light  presents  to  our 
eyes,  are  its  attributes,  as  we  see  it  through  a  certain  me- 
dium, or  under  certain  conditions  of  imperfectness.  But 
when  light  is  seen  in  its  purity  and  integrity,  as  the  face 
of  the  sun  delivers  it,  all  colors  are  harmonized,  merged, 
and  lost  in  perfect  white.  "  God  is  Light." 

But  you  may  justly  ask,  when  does  the  light  which 
comes  from  the  sun  ever  descend  to  our  eyes,  unchanged? 
As  it  passes  through  the  atmosphere,  or  is  reflected 
from  the  innumerable  surfaces  on  which  it  falls — the 
clouds,  the  grass,  the  flowers — it  is  everywhere  in  a  de- 
gree decomposed,  so  that  we  are  greeted  on  every  side 
with  the  various  colors  which  give  so  much  beauty,  and 
often  so  much  terror,  to  the  face  of  nature.  Who,  from 
such  various  exhibitions  of  colored  light,  would  imagine 
that  light,  in  its  perfection,  has  no  color?  God  is  Light; 
and  when  you  contemplate  his  character,  as  its  several 
manifestations  are  given  to  our  imperfect  vision,  through 
the  glass  of  his  works,  his  providence,  and  his  word,  that 
which  we  know  is  and  must  be  of  the  most  perfect  sim- 
plicity, appears  as  if  compounded  of  many  qualities,  or 
distinct  properties,  which  we  call  divine  attributes — as  jus- 
tice, goodness,  wisdom,  holiness,  mercy;  while  to  each 
there  seems  allotted  a  separate  office  in  the  divine  dis- 


THE  CHARACTER  OP  GOD  AS  MANIFESTED  IN  CHRIST.      287 

pensations.  Of  these  attributes,  we  speak  and  reason,  as 
if  they  were  not  merely  aspects  in  which  the  divine  char- 
acter appears  to  our  infirm  conceptions,  who  here,  more 
than  anywhere  else,  must  "  see  through  a  glass  darkly ; ' ' 
but  as  actually  distinct  properties,  found  as  really  in  the 
nature  of  God,  as  in  the  language  of  man.  We  have  ob- 
tained the  habit  of  imagining  these  several  attributes  to 
be,  not  only  real  distinctions  in  God,  as  well  as  in  our 
own  minds,  but  so  independent  one  of  another,  that  in 
his  dealings  with  men,  he  is  sometimes  seen  in  the  exer- 
cise of  a  part,  while  the  rest  are  not  concerned;  some- 
times as  a  God  of  justice,  but  not,  at  the  same  time,  and 
in  the  same  act,  just  as  much  a  God  of  mercy. 

But  what  are  these  distinctions  of  justice,  and  mercy, 
and  holiness,  &c.,  under  which  we  are  obliged  to  speak 
and  think  of  God?  Do  they  really  belong  to  him  in 
that  separate  aspect,  or  only  to  our  necessarily  broken 
and  confused  conceptions  of  his  nature?  Do  they  exist 
in  that  boundless,  uncreated  light,  as  it  is  in  God,  or  only 
as  the  atmosphere,  and  the  clouds,  and  the  several  infir- 
mities which  hang  around  our  moral  vision,  present  him 
to  our  view?  Are  they  not  simply  the  effects  of  that 
process,  which  the  revelation  of  the  perfect  unity  and 
simplicity  of  the  divine  nature  undergoes,  in  being  neces- 
sarily conveyed  through  a  language,  or  by  manifestations, 
which  man  may  read  and  comprehend?  Certainly,  it 
needs  no  argument  to  prove,  that  in  God's  infinitely  sim- 
ple and  perfect  nature,  to  whom  there  is  no  succession  of 
time  or  of  counsel,  no  change  of  will  or  thought,  there  can 
be  no  such  distinction  of  attributes ;  as  if  sometimes  it  were 
an  inflexible  justice,  to  the  exclusion  of  mercy,  that  de- 


288  SERMON  XIII. 

termined  his  ways,  and  sometimes  it  were  a  tender,  com- 
passionate mercy,  that  put  justice  aside,  and  took  the 
reins  of  sovereignty,  and  guided  his  hand.  "God  is 
Light."  All  those  several  attributes  under  which  the 
character  of  God  appears,  in  being  made  visible  to  us,  in 
the  several  revelations  of  his  works,  his  providence,  and 
his  word,  are  harmonized  and  merged  in  the  perfect  unity 
and  simplicity  of  the  divine  nature.  "God  is  Love." 

But  you  know,  with  regard  to  light,  that  you  cannot 
produce  the  pure  white  of  the  sun's  ray,  without  the 
presence  and  combination  of  every  one  of  the  several  col- 
ors of  the  prism.  It  is  the  union  of  all,  that  causes  all 
to  disappear  in  a  colorless  light.  Subtract  either  one  of 
them,  and  you  cannot  make  the  perfect  light.  It  is  just 
as  essential  to  the  pure  whiteness  of  the  solar  ray,  that 
it  contain  the  red  of  the  fearful  lightning,  as  that  it  shall 
contain  the  soft  blue  of  the  sky,  and  the  grateful  green 
that  carpets  the  earth.  And  so  it  is  in  God,  and  his  ways 
towards  man.  All  his  attributes — justice  as  well  as  mer- 
cy, wisdom  as  well  as  compassion,  holiness  as  well  as 
goodness,  must  be  associated,  and  perfectly  harmonized,  in 
every  procedure  of  his  boundless  administration,  or  else 
the  perfect  unity  and  simplicity  of  his  nature  are  not  pre- 
served. Take  away  either,  in  any  degree,  and  God  is  not 
Love.  One  may  be  manifest  to  our  vision,  and  another 
concealed.  Like  the  tints  of  the  rainbow,  one  may  be 
exhibited  more  strongly  than  another,  but  all  must  be 
there;  all  in  the  depths  of  the  divine  mind,  concurring 
and  harmonized.  That  which  makes  it  so  fearful  a  thing 
for  an  impenitent  sinner  "to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  liv- 
ing God,"  must  be  there,  as  well  as  all  that  which  so 


TTE  CHARACTER  OF  GOD  AS  MANIFESTED  IN  CHRIST.      289 

tenderly  invites  and  encourages  the  contrite  heart  to  draw 
near  to  God,  through  Jesus  Christ,  and  repose  ah1  its  sins 
and  sorrows  upon  his  grace ;  the  stern  hatred  and  con- 
demnation of  sin,  whereby  the  unquenchable  fire  has  been 
prepared  for  the  ungodly,  as  well  as  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  grace,  which  have  laid  up,  in  Christ  Jesus,  the 
glorious  inheritance  reserved  for  the  righteous;  all  must 
be  in  God,  and  all  must  be  present,  and  concurrent,  and 
harmonized,  in  all  his'  dealings  with  us,  whatever  the 
manifestation  to  our  infirm  conceptions,  or  G-od  is  not  Love. 

II.  Let  us  now  consider  that  special  manifestation  of 
this  character  of  God  to  which  the  text  refers  us. 

"  In  this  was  manifested  the  love  of  God  toward  us, 
because  God  sent  his  only  begotten  Son  into  the  world, 
that  we  might  live  through  him."  Thus,  the  redemption 
that  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  that  wonderful  way  of  salvation 
provided  in  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God  in  our  na- 
ture, and  in  his  death  on  the  cross,  as  a  sacrifice  for  our  sins, 
is  that  grand  manifestation,  which,  above  all  his  ways  and 
doings,  declares  that  God  is  Love. 

We  are  speaking  now  of  the  manifestation.  God  was 
Love,  when  he  was  known  only  as  the  Creator  and  Preser- 
ver of  all  things,  as  much  as  he  is  now,  when  we  have  the 
additional  knowledge  of  him  as  "He  who  spared  not 
his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all."  But  then 
the  manifestation  of  his  character  was  widely  different. 
As  long  as  God  continued  to  see  all  things  on  earth  to 
be  "very  good"  as  his  own  hand  had  fashioned  it;  as 
long  as  sin  had  not  entered  into  the  world,  defacing,  and 
defiling,  and  transforming  all  things ;  and  man  still  was 
holy,  so  that  God,  the  Light  of  light,  beheld  his  own  per- 
19 


290  SERMON   XIII. 

factions  reflected  unchanged  in  the  transparent  purity  of 
all  created  things ;  then,  of  course,  the  attribute  of  jus- 
tice, the  same  that  now  arms  the  penalty  of  his  violated 
law  with  such  fearful  strength,  was  as  much  a  perfection 
of  his  nature,  and  as  much  associated  in  all  his  works  and 
ways,  as  it  ever  has  been  since.  But  because  there  was  no 
sin  then  to  be  visited,  no  violated  law  to  be  vindicated,  that 
justice  lay  all  unseen  in  love,  just  as  when  there  is  no 
cloud  in  the  firmament,  that  which  at  other  times  colors 
so  deeply  the  sky,  as  if  it  were  all  a  burning  flame,  lies 
unseen  in  the  sun's  unbroken  rays.  Precisely  as  it 
was  with  the  justice  of  God,  so  was  it  with  all  his  other 
attributes.  Since  there  was  no  sin  deserving  punishment, 
there  was  no  room  for  the  manifestation  of  his  mercy.  It 
lay  undistinguished  in  love.  So  was  it  with  holiness.  As 
there  was  no  sin  in  man  to  exhibit  the  opposite  of  holiness 
in  God,  there  was  no  contrast  by  which  the  holiness  of 
God  could  be  manifested.  It  lay  undistinguished  in  love. 
There  being  no  want  to  be  relieved,  nor  suffering  to  be 
pitied,  there  was  nothing  to  exercise  the  divine  compassion. 
It  lay  undistinguished  in  love.  And  as  man  was  then  in 
the  likeness  of  God,  perfectly  holy,  there  was  towards 
him  the  continual  manifestation  of  the  love  of  God, 
in  which  all  divine  perfections  were  united,  however 
merged  and  undistinguished.  And  because  man  was 
"made  perfect  in  love,"  and  all  on  earth  was  unpolluted 
by  sin;  heaven  and  earth,  in  point  of  moral  atmosphere, 
were  one.  Therefore,  the  light  of  the  countenance  of  the 
Creator  passed  unchanged  into  the  mind  of  the  creature. 
There  was  no  interposing  medium  of  human  infirmities  and 
sinfulness,  no  cloud  of  anger  between  man  and  his  Maker, 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  GOD  AS  MANIFESTED  IN  CHRIST.     291 

through  which  the  manifestations  of  God's  character 
and  will  must  pass,  and  by  which  they  must  be  affected 
in  getting  to  the  view  of  the  creature.  Man  was  love; 
and  thus  he  was  capable  of  knowing  God,  and  of  reflect- 
ing in  himself  the  perfect  image  of  God,  as  he  was,  and  is, 
and  ever  shall  be — Love.  And  the  garden  of  Paradise, 
where  was  held  that  perfect  communion  between  man  and 
God,  which  since  the  entrance  of  sin  has  never  been  re- 
newed in  this  world ;  and  where  all  the  varieties  of  form 
and  color  were  blended  into  one  harmony  of  perfect  love- 
liness, was  it  not  a  standing  manifestation  of  the  glory  of 
God,  saying  always,  "God  is  Love,  and  he  that  dwelleth  in 
love  dwelleth  in  God  and  God  in  him." 

But  sin  perverted  all  the  relations  between  man  and 
God.  It  brought  guilt  on  the  creature,  and  wrath  from  the 
Creator.  Their  communion  was  destroyed;  man  was  alien- 
ated ;  and  henceforth  he  beheld  his  Maker  from  the  great 
distance  to  which  sin  had  banished  him,  and  through  the 
infirmities  and  corruption  of  nature  which  it  had  entailed 
upon  him.  There  was  now  a  thick  cloud  between  them, 
and  all  the  manifestations  of  the  character  of  God  were 
through  that  cloud ;  so  that,  as  when  the  sun  shines 
through  the  storm  and  seems  as  if  deprived  of  all  light 
but  that  of  a  frowning  tempest,  the  unchangeable  God,  as 
much  Love  as  ever,  appeared  as  if  only  justice  and  judg- 
ment were  the  habitation  of  his  throne.  But  soon  was 
established  the  covenant  of  grace.  God  promised  his 
only  begotten  Son,  through  whom  the  sinner  might  again 
approach  and  hold  communion  with  him,  and  through 
whom  he  would  manifest  himself  to  the  sinner.  Under 
that  covenant  we  now  behold  "the  light  of  the  knowledge 


292  SERMON  XIII. 

of  the  glory  of  God,  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ."  Thus 
we  are  enabled  to  see  that  God  is  Love.  But  still  there  is 
so  much  in  the  world  to  call  forth  his  character  as  just  and 
holy,  hating  iniquity,  and  by  no  means  clearing  the  guilty ; 
a  God  of  judgment,  whose  terrors  we  are  earnestly  exhor- 
ted to  escape ;  that  men  are  wont  to  read  many  of  his 
doings,^  as  if  love  were  all  removed  far  away  from  them, 
and  as  if  their  only  testimony  were  to  God's  justice  and 
holiness. 

How  fearful,  for  example,  was  his  judgment,  when  in 
punishment  of  the  wickedness  that  overspread  the  earth, 
he  brought  upon  its  whole  population  the  waters  of  the 
deluge,  and,  with  the  exception  of  a  single  family,  buried 
in  one  grave  all  mankind.  Think  of  the  cities  of  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah ;  of  the  commanded  extermination  of  the 
Canaanitish  nations,  under  the  sword  of  Israel ;  of  the 
vengeance,  which  by  famine,  and  pestilence,  and  sword, 
desolated  the  guilty  Jerusalem,  when  the  Romans  were 
made  God's  instruments  of  visiting  upon  the  Jews,  the 
rejection  of  his  Son. 

Looking  at  such  fearful  dispensations  without  the  ac- 
companying light  of  the  scriptures,  we  may  see  that  God 
was  just  and  holy;  that  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  did 
right ;  but  one  is  apt  to  feel  that  we  must  look  elsewhere, 
if  we  desire  to  find  the  dispensation  in  which  was  fulfilled 
the  declaration,  "God  is  Love"  Such,  however,  is  not  the 
aspect  in  which  it  is  our  privilege  and  duty,  under  the  light 
of  the  scriptures,  to  contemplate  those  proceedings.  And 
the  same  with  regard  to  that  most  appalling  of  all,  the 
judgment  of  God  upon  the  wicked  in  the  last  day,  con- 
signing them  to  a  retribution  which  is  never  to  end,  "where 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  GOD  AS  MANIFESTED  IN  CHRIST.     293 

their  worm  dieth  not  and  the  fire  is  not  quenched."  Sure- 
ly, (it  may  be  said,)  though  God  is  just  in  that  retribution, 
you  cannot  say  he  is  Love.  Yes,  it  is  our  privilege  under 
the  revelation  of  his  word,  to  pass  in  review  all  the  most 
tremendous  visitations  of  judgment  that  ever  came  on 
the  earth ;  and  to  survey  in  anticipation,  all  that  is  yet  to 
come  upon  man,  in  earth  or  in  hell,  and  to  declare  that, 
not  only  in  his  own  essential  being,  but  in  each  of  these 
manifestations,  God  is  Love.  Whatever  its  aspect  to  the 
individual  recipient,  still,  in  the  relations  of  God  to  all  in- 
telligent beings  inhabiting  the  whole  universe,  angels  as 
well  as  men,  over  whom  his  government  is  exercised,  and 
before  whom  it  is  to  be  honored ;  his  sternest  severity  to 
transgressors,  impenitent — the  very  judgment  in  which  he 
is  most  fearfully  "a  consuming  fire,"  is  that  in  which, 
could  we  read  it  as  it  is,  we  should  see  that  he  is  Love. 
Did  we  but  see  all  these  footsteps  of  his  power  and  holiness, 
not  as  mere  insulated  parts  of  his  ways,  but  in  all  their 
connections  with  the  whole  dominion  of  God,  we  should 
understand,  not  only  that  they  are  compatible  with  his 
character  as  declared  in  the  text,  but  that,  seeing  what 
this  world  is,  as  a  rebellious  world,  they  are  positively 
essential  to  that  character. 

And  what  matters  it  to  our  full  belief  of  all  this,  if, 
while  assured  of  it  on  the  authority  of  the  divine  word, 
we  should  feel  ourselves  baffled  in  our  utmost  efforts  to 
comprehend  how  it  can  be  ?  Can  we  any  better  compre- 
hend how  all  the  diversified  colorings  of  nature,  from  the 
delicate  verdure  of  the  grass  of  the  field,  to  the  glare  of 
the  lightning,  and  the  blaze  of  devouring  fire,  are  concern- 
ed in,  and  essential  to  the  composition  of  the  light  of  an 


294  SERMON  XIII. 

x 

unclouded  day,  as  it  comes  in  all  its  transparent  whiteness 
from  the  sun  ?  Can  we  enter  into  the  secrets  of  the  light, 
any  more  than  into  the  mysteries  of  that  divine  nature 
of  which  it  is  the  scriptural  similitude  ?  If  we  believe 
the  truths  of  philosophy  in  regard  to  the  one,  because  we 
see  them,  little  as  we  comprehend  them;  may  we  not  be- 
lieve the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  as  to  the  other,  when 
certified  by  the  Spirit  of  truth  in  the  holy  scriptures  ? 
Surely,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  the  very  love  of  God  to 
men  and  angels,  should  demand  just  such  terrible  judg- 
ments upon  the  wicked,  and  yet  that  we  should  be  unable 
to  see  wherein  the  dire  necessity  lies.  Consider  how  little 
we  are  capable  of  discerning  the  interior  of  anything ;  how 
we  are  only  as  children  in  the  nursery,  looking  out  upon 
the  boundless  empire  of  God,  through  a  very  little  win- 
dow, and  that  very  obscure;  that  it  is  but  just  a  corner 
of  the  map  of  his  universal  providence  that  is  unrolled  to 
our  inspection,  so  that  we  see  never  but  "parts  of  his 
ways,"  and  cannot  follow  out  a  single  line  of  the  chart 
beyond  our  own  position.  In  another  world,  under  a  more 
perfect  revelation,  that  chart  will  be  more  unrolled.  We 
shall  see  God  as  he  is,  if  it  be  our  happiness  to  inherit 
the  blessedness  of  his  kingdom.  All  his  ways  will  then 
be  vindicated.  Then  shall  we  see  perfectly,  what  we  now 
believe  assuredly,  how  all  his  judgments,  as  well  as  all  his 
mercies,  praise  him ;  how  all  the  consuming  fire  that  ever 
fell  on  man  has  praised  him ;  how  all  the  retribution  poured 
upon  lost  souls  in  hell  praiseth  him ;  and  how  perfectly  all 
his  severest  dispensations  unite  and  harmonize  with  all  his 
most  compassionate  and  merciful,  in  adoring  testimony 
that  God  is  Love. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  GOD  AS  MANIFESTED  IN  CHRIST.      295 

But  far  beyond  all  other  manifestations  of  this  precious 
truth,  is  that  wonderful  provision  for  the  redemption  of 
sinners,  to  which  we  are  directed  in  the  text.  It  is  men- 
tioned there  as  if  it  were  the  only  manifestation ;  so  far  is 
it  beyond  all  others,  in  the  fullness  and  glory  of  its  evi- 
dence. "In  this  was  manifested  the  love  of  God  toward 
us,  because  God  sent  his  onjy  begotten  Son  into^the  world 
that  we  might  live  through  him."  The  praises  of  the 
glorified  Church  in  heaven  are  represented  as  being  in- 
tensely concentrated  upon  that  great  gift  of  God's  love, 
and  on  the  great  redemption  wrought  out  by  the  atoning 
death  of  that  only  begotten  Son,  as  if  in  its  light,  the 
saints  "made  perfect"  were  capable  of  seeing  no  other 
manifestation  of  God.  They  sing  that  "new  song;"  a 
song  always  new,  because  the  theme  is  never  -exhausted  : 
"  Thou  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  blood,  out  of 
every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people,  and  nation."* 

In  accomplishing  the  salvation  of  sinners,  the  one  great 
difficulty,  if  we  may  so  speak,  was  to  preserve  the  justice, 
and  holiness,  and  truth,  and  faithfulness  of  God  from  all 
dishonor  and  all  compromise  with  sin;  to  vindicate  his 
violated  law  to  the  full  exaction  of  its  penalty ;  to  mani- 
fest his  own  infinite  holiness  as  a  sin-hating  God ;  and 
yet  to  open  a  way  for  the  going  forth  of  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  his  grace,  for  the  free  forgiveness  and  the  ever- 
lasting blessedness  of  the  repenting  sinner.  To  provide 
salvation  on  any  other  terms,  might  have  manifested  com- 
passion and  mercy  to  the  lost  ;  but  in  such  a  salvation  it 
could  not  have  been  said  that  God  is  Love.  Such  mercy 
to  the  guilty  would  have  been  any  thing  but  love  to  the 

*Rev.  v.  9. 


296  SERMON   XIII. 

whole  universe  of  intelligent  and  accountable  beings.  It 
is  infinitely  more  important  to  the  happiness  of  the  uni- 
verse, that  the  law  of  God  shall  be  honored,  and  his  faith- 
fulness as  a  righteous  Governor  sustained,  than  that 
sinners  should  be  saved. 

In  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  wherein  God 
hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquities  of  us  all,  nothing  is  lost  on 
his  part  in  order  that  we  may  be  saved.  All  the  divine 
perfections  are  maintained  and  are  glorified ;  all  co-operate 
in  entire  harmony  in  that  great  salvation;  yea,  all  are 
manifested  and  vindicated  as  never  before  in  the  ways  of 
God.  Never  were  his  mercy  and  compassion  so  seen,  as 
when  heaven  and  earth  beheld  them  in  the  working  out 
our  peace  at  such  cost  as  the  humiliation,  and  agony,  and 
death  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God.  Never  did  he 
appear  in  such  robes  of  justice  and  judgment,  hating  and 
punishing  iniquity;  abating  not  a  jot  or  tittle  of  its 
curse;  never  was  his  holiness  so  seen,  as  when,  rather 
than  save  sinners  at  the  expense  of  his  law,  he  saved 
them  at  the  expense  of  his  own  Son,  and  delivered  him 
up  to  be  "made  a  curse  for  us."  Ezekiel  saw  in  a  vision 
"  the  appearance  of  the  likeness  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord," 
and  he  says  it  was  "  as  the  appearance  of  the  low  that  is 
in  the  cloud  on  the  day  of  rain"*  John  had  a  similar 
vision ;  and  says,  like  Ezekiel,  "  there  was  a  rainbow  round 
about  the  throne."  |  It  was  a  vision  of  the  glory  of  God  in 
the  redemption  of  sinners  by  Christ,  wherein  all  the  divine 
perfections  unite,  and  co-operate,  and  blend  in  beau- 
tiful harmony;  wherein,  while  they  constitute  the  most 
perfect  assurance  of  salvation  to  every  penitent  and  be- 

*Ezek.  i.  28.  t  Rev.  iv,  3. 


THE  CHAKACTER  OF  GOD  AS  MANIFESTED  IN  CHRIST.     297 

lieving  sinner,  they  all  bend,  as  one,  around  the  throne, 
rendering  all  honor  to  the  government  of  Him  that  sitteth 
thereon,  as  being  only  the  more  glorified,  as  the  righteous 
Judge,  in  providing  as  a  compassionate  Father  that  free 
salvation. 

III.  And  now  let  me  turn  your  attention  to  the  infer- 
ence in  the  text  from  the  character  there  given  under  the 
name  of  Love.  "  He  that  loveth  not,  knoweth  not  God,  for 
God  is  Love."  In  other  words,  where  there  is  not  the 
love  of  God  in  the  heart,  there  is  no  true  knowledge  of 
him.  To  know  him  truly,  and  to  love  him  sincerely, 
must  go  together. 

Indeed,  it  is  a  principle  of  general  application,  that  we 
know  nothing  that  is  lovely,  unless  we  love  it.  The  ab- 
sence of  love  is  the  absence  of  true  knowledge.  To  know 
by  the  hearing  of  the  ear,  or  to  see,  as  a  matter^of  fact, 
that,  according  to  rule  and  the  ordinary  way  of  estimating 
things,  an  object  deserves  to  be  loved,  is  one  thing ;  but  it 
is  a  very  different  matter,  to  know  its  loveliness  by  our  own 
consciousness,  by  a  personal  appreciation  and  the  testimony 
of  our  own  affections.  We  know  not  the  harmonies  of 
music,  however  we  may  learn  them  as  a  thing  of  science, 
except  our  ear  can  receive  and  enjoy  them.  We  know 
not  the  loveliness  of  a  landscape,  which  the  hand  of  na- 
ture has  adorned  with  every  beauty  and  grace,  except 
there  be  in  us  that  susceptibility,  that  sympathy  of  feeling, 
that  love  for  it,  without  which  we  observe  it  not,  and  care 
not  for  it.  We  may  know  that  it  is  lovely,  because  so  it  is 
said  to  be.  But  if  we  do  not  love  it,  we  show  that  we  do 
not  know  it,  but  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear.  And  thus, 
since  God  is  Love,  and  infinitely  worthy  to  be  loved  by  us, 
with  all  our  hearts ;  if  we  love  him  not,  there  is  the  most 


298  SERMON   XIII. 

conclusive  evidence  that  we  do  not  even  know  him.  That 
he  is,  and  something  of  what  he  is,  we  may  know.  On 
the  assurance  of  his  word,  or  by  the  process  of  an  argu- 
ment, we  may  be  certified,  that  he  hath  indeed  a  most 
just  claim  on  all  the  love  we  have  to  give.  But  know  him 
with  the  only  knowledge  that  is  owned  as  the  knowledge 
of  God  in  the  scriptures,  we  cannot,  unless  we  love  him. 
"God  is  Light."  The  eye  sees  light,  by  first  receiving 
it.  "  God  is  Love."  The  heart  knows  him,  by  loving 
him.  With  the  understanding,  we  know  that  he  is;  but 
with  the  affections,  we  know  ivhat  he  is;  and  especially 
what  he  is  as  "  the  God  of  all  grace,"  manifesting  himself 
in  the  gift  of  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  we  might  live 
through  him. 

Hence,  you  find  in  the  scriptures,  that  the  knowledge 
and  the  love  of  God  are  spoken  of  as  identical.  They 
whose  hearts  are  not  with  him,  are  always  described  as 
those  who  do  not  know  him,  no  matter  how  knowing  they 
may  be  in  the  doctrine  of  his  word,  or  how  mighty  in  the 
exposition  of  the  scriptures.  "  This  is  life  eternal,"  said 
our  Lord,  "  to  know  thee,  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus 
Christ,  whom  thou  hast  sent;"*  where,  you  see,  the 
knowledge  of  God  is  put  for  the  whole  of  spiritual  life,  and 
thus  is  inseparably  joined  with  the  love  of  God.  And 
thus,  brethren,  you  see  the  "essential  difference  between 
all  that  mere  information  concerning  God,  which,  however 
embraced  by  the  understanding,  lies  no  deeper;  and  that 
inward,  heart-received,  and  heart-subduing  knowledge, 
written  with  the  finger  of  God,  upon  our  deepest  and 
most  governing  affections.  Without  the  latter,  we  know 
not  God.  All  our  knowledge  of  him  is  blindness.  It  is 

*  John  xvii.  3. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  GOD  AS  MANIFESTED  IN  CHRIST.     299 

seeing,  but  not  perceiving.  It  is  knowledge  lodged  upon 
the  surface,  as  good  seed  lying  by  the  way-side,  or  upon 
stony  ground,  where  it  has  no  depth  of  earth  and  cannot 
bear  any  fruit.  It  is  not  seed  implanted  in  the  only  soil 
that  is  prepared  for  it,  and  where  only  it  can  spring  forth 
and  yield  the  fruits  of  righteousness.  What  if  we  "  under- 
stand all  mysteries  and  all  knowledge,"  so  as  to  speak  of 
the  things  of  God  "with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  an- 
gels," and  have  not  love!  Alas!  "it  profiteth  us  noth- 
ing;" we  are  but  as  "the  sounding  brass  and  the  tinkling 
cymbal."  "He  that  loveth  not,  knoweth  not  God,  for 
God  is  Love." 

And  now  I  will  conclude  this  discourse  with  a  few  prac- 
tical lessons  arising  out  of  the  views  we  have  taken : 

1st.  We  may  learn  wherein  consists  the  essential  nature 
of  true  piety. 

True  piety  is  simply  likeness  to  God.  Since  he  is 
Light,  his  people  are  called  "Children  of  Light."1*  To  be 
in  the  image  of  God  was  the  whole  of  the  nature  of  piety 
when  man  was  unfallen.  To  be  created  anew  in  that  im- 
age, by  regenerating  grace,  is  the  basis  and  substance  of 
all  piety  now  that  fallen  man  is  striving  to  regain  what  sin 
has  made  him  lose.  To  make  that  likeness  perfect  once 
more,  will  be  the  finishing  work  of  the  redemption  that  is 
in  Christ  Jesus.  But  God  is  Love.  The  sum  and  sub- 
stance, therefore,  of  all  true  piety  is  love,  in  its  two  aspects, 
towards  God  and  towards  man.  All  the  imperfect-ness  of 
piety  is  iniperfectness  of  love ;  and  the  perfection  of  the 
child  of  God  is  his  being  "made  perfect  in  love."  And 
thus,  when  St.  John  repeats  in  a  subsequent  verse  of  the 
same  chapter  the  declaration  of  the  text,  "God  is  Love," 

*  1  Thess.  v.  5. 


300  SERMON    XIII. 

he  adds,  as  an  inference,  "  He  that  dwelleth  in  love  dwel- 
leth  in  God,  and  God  in  him."  "As  He  is,  so  are  we  in 
this  world." 

The  law  of  God  is  like  himself — it  is  Love.  In  adap- 
tation to  our  infirmities,  it  is  broken  into  many  precepts, 
but  all  are  one  commandment — Love.  It  is  a  harp  of 
many  strings,  but  all  unite  in  one  harmony  of  love.  "  Love 
is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law,"  as  it  is  the  perfectness  of  its 
Author.  The  Christian  character  is  made  up  of  many  vir- 
tues and  aspects  of  grace,  as  it  exhibits  the  several  fea- 
tures of  holiness,  of  humility,  of  devotedness  to  God,  of 
benevolence  to  man,  of  patience,  of  meekness,  of  prayer- 
fulness,  of  abhorrence  of  that  which  is  evil,  of  zeal  for  that 
which  is  good;  but  love  is  the  life  of  all;  and  just  in  pro- 
portion as  the  Christian  character  approaches  perfection, 
are  all  those  several  aspects  seen  blended  and  merged  into 
one  controlling,  harmonizing,  animating,  strengthening, 
love  to  God  and  man. 

While  the  children  of  God  continue  in  this  earthly 
state,  their  character  will  be  imperfect ;  its  several  parts 
deficient  in  proper  harmony  and  proportion ;  some  aspects 
and  influences  of  piety  taking  undue  precedence  of  others 
which  should  have  equal  prominence ;  more  faith,  perhaps, 
than  gentleness ;  more  distrust  of  self  than  trust  in  God ; 
more  hope  than  fear,  or  more  fear  than  hope ;  more  meek- 
ness to  submit  to  affliction  than  boldness  to  go  forward  in 
duty ;  more  prayerfulness  to  obtain  blessings  than  thank- 
fulness to  acknowledge  them.  From  Christian  to  Chris- 
tian, there  is  great  diversity  of  religious  character,  even 
among  those  who  may  be  considered  equally  holy ;  some 
shining  more  beautifully  in  one  aspect  of  piety,  some  in 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  GOD  AS  MANIFESTED  IN  CHRIST.      301 

another.  Let  us  remember,  they  are  "all  children  of  the 
light"  And  where,  in  all  this  world  of  imperfectness, 
does  the  purest  light  find  a  surface  to  rest  on,  without 
being  spoiled  thereby  of  its  native  proportion  of  parts,  and 
changed  from  its  original  aspect?  The  child  of  God  never 
in  this  life  exhibits  in  himself  the  image  of  God  without 
imperfection.  All  the  features  are  there,  but  more  or  less 
obscure  and  out  of  harmony.  But  he  is  growing  in  grace. 
The  likeness  is  being  brought  out  into  more  and  more 
fullness,  as  his  Christian  character  becomes  more  meet  for 
the  heavenly  inheritance.  The  more  mature  he  becomes 
in  "the  mind  of  Christ,"  the  more  will  all  things  within 
him  assume  their  proper  place,  and  proportion,  and  sym- 
metry; losing  their  individual  aspects,  and  combining  into 
one  blended  harmony  of  all  Christian  virtues,  like  the 
several  precepts  of  the  law  uniting  and  fulfilled  in  one 
single  commandment.  And  when  the  child  of  God  attains 
the  heavenly  state  and  the  whole  "  general  assembly  and 
Church  of  the  first  born"  are  there  in  their  fullness  and 
final  glory,  without  spot  or  blemish,  all  in  the  perfect  like- 
ness of  God,  suppose  ye  that  we  shall  then  contemplate 
each  other's  perfectness  in  the  several  separate  virtues  in 
which  present  circumstances  draw  out  the  Christian  charac- 
ter, any  more  than  we  shall  then  have  need  to  read  the  one 
commandment  of  the  law  of  God,  under  the  several  par- 
ticulars of  duty  in  which  it  is  now  presented  in  the  ten  ? 
Shall  we  know  one  another  but  as  made  perfect  in  love  ? 
Will  not  all  the  separate  aspects  of  Christian  excellence 
be  then  merged  in  the  simple  perfectness  of  love,  as  all  hues 
of  the  rainbow  are  lost  in  the  pure  white  of  the  perfect 
light? 


302  SERMON   XIII. 

2d.  The  view  we  have  taken  of  the  divine  character, 
under  the  guidance  of  the  text,  suggests  considerations 
most  comforting,  under  the  various  dispensations  of  Provi- 
dence. 

It  is  written  that  "  all  things  work  together  for  good  to 
them  that  love  God."  "All  things!"  Nothing  is  except- 
ed.  The  whole  universe  of  things  is  included.  All  con- 
spire, and  all  work  together,  the  greatest  and  the  least, 
the  mightiest  movements  of  empires,  the  least  changes  in 
domestic  or  personal  affairs,  for  the  ultimate  bringing  to 
pass  of  the  promises  of  God  to  his  Church,  and  to  every 
individual  child  of  God  in  that  great  household.  But 
how  conflicting  oftentimes  appear  those  things ;  how  di- 
rectly set  and  prepared  by  man  against  all  the  good  of 
them  that  love  God  ;  with  what  malice  the  powers  of  Sa- 
tan are  continually  at  work  to  make  all  things  result 
in  their  eternal  ruin ;  so  that  it  often  seems  as  if  there 
were  nothing  more  contradictory  to  the  aspect  of  all  things, 
than  that  they  can  possibly  be  working  together  for  the 
good  of  them  that  love  God.  But  look  abroad  upon  the 
face  of  the  sky  and  the  surface  of  the  earth !  What  va- 
riety, what  contrasts,  of  colors  does  the  light  exhibit ! 
And  yet  all  these  work  together,  all  must  work  together, 
to  form  the  uncolored  light  of  day.  Can  you  trace  their 
operation  to  that  result  ?  And  is  there  any  mystery  in 
the  ways  of  God  more  inexplicable  ?  Is  it  any  less  diffi- 
cult for  us  to  comprehend  that  under  the  power  and 
wisdom  of  God,  those  things  which  seem  so  conflicting  in 
the  events  of  theworld,  in  regard  to  his  Church,  should 
all  be  made  to  co-operate  continually  in  producing  its  ulti- 
mate good,  and  in  proving  that  towards  it,  all  the  ways  of 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  GOD  AS  MANIFESTED  IN  CHRIST.      303 

God  are  love?  Let  us  remember  that  to  such  ^children 
as  his  people  are  in  this  world,  it  takes  all  his  ways,  the 
chastening  as  well  as  the  comforting,  the  severe  as  well 
as  the  tender,  to  deal  with  them  in  love.  The  dark  lines 
have  as  much  to  do  in  making  their  true  light,  as  the 
milder.  Were  all  dispensations  without  trials,  without 
sorrow,  God  would  not  be  Love  in  his  dealings  with  such 
children,  so  compassed  with  infirmities,  so  easily  going 
astray,  so  in  need  of  correction,  any  more  than  if  all  were 
unmixed  tribulation.  Oh  !  how  should  this  enable  us  to 
glory  even  in  any  tribulation,  knowing  that  if  we  do  love 
God,  that  trial  is  only  one  aspect,  one  operation,  of  his 
love  toward  us ;  one  of  those  lines  of  Providence,  which, 
as  when  we  look  upon  the  wrong  side  of  a  beautiful  tapes- 
try, seem  now  all  mixed,  and  confused,  and  contradictory, 
as  if,  instead  of  any  wise  design  or  loving  object,  all  were 
at  best  but  blind  chance ;  but  when  seen  on  the  right  side, 
as  they  appear  to  those  who  look  on  them  from  heaven, 
whence  every  line  can  be  traced  to  the  uttermost,  exhibit 
but  one  continual  evidence  of  the  hand  of  God,  ordering 
all  things  in  infinite  wisdom,  all  with  constant  reference  to 
the  fulfillment  of  his  promises,  all  working  together  in  the 
most  faithful,  patient,  unchangeable  love  to  them  that  love 
him.  This  we  now  know  ly  faith,  on  the  assurance  of 
God's  word.  It  is  a  part  of  that  very  working  together 
of  all  things  for  our  good,  that  we  must  know  these 
things  only  by  faith,  so  long  as  we  abide  in  the  flesh. 
The  sight  of  them  will  come  when  the  end  of  them  is  ac- 
complished. Then,  with  what  adoration  will  we  trace  in 
every  minute  particular,  the  ways  of  God's  love  towards 
us  and  his  whole  Church,  and  see  what  steady  light  was 


304  SERMON  XIII. 

always  upon  us,  however  dark  the  earthly  cloud;  and  how 
steadily,  from  all  directions,  the  working  together  went 
on ;  and  how  all  the  wrath  of  man  and  all  the  malice  of 
Satan,  were  forced  to  join  in  it,  so  that  in  that  respect 
"all  things"  indeed  tvere  ours,  "the  world,  or  life,  or  death, 
or  things  present,  or  things  to  come."* 

Lastly.  From  the  view  we  have  taken  of  the  character 
of  God,  there  arises  a  thought  of  no  little  seriousness,  for 
the  consideration  of  all  who  withhold  their  hearts  from 
him. 

They  often  read  this  very  text,  "God  is  Love,"  as  if  it 
were  a  refuge  from  the  sterner  declarations  of  the  scrip- 
tures ;  and  hence  they  indulge  the  hope  that  though  they 
go  on  to  neglect  him,  to  disobey  him,  to  refuse  him  their 
hearts,  and  set  at  nought  his  fear,  and  in  such  sin  should 
die ;  nevertheless,  either  he  will  not,  or  else  may  not  exe- 
cute his  law  upon  them  in  the  awful  penalty  pronounced 
in  his  word,  but  in  some  way  or  other  may  make  room  for 
their  escape.  I  beg  them  to  consider.  There  is  no  encour- 
agement in  this  character  of  God  to  them.  Precisely  the 
reverse.  You  might  as  well  say  there  never  could  have 
been  such  a  judgment  as  the  deluge,  as  that  the  impeni- 
tent will  not  be  cast  into  hell,  because  God  is  Love.  I 
grant  that  between  the  two  judgments  there  is  an  un- 
speakable difference  in  degree,  but  both  are  judgments  of 
God's  anger  against  sinners  • — both  awful  beyond  our  con- 
ception ;  and  if  his  being  Love  must  prevent  the  one,  it 
would  have  prevented  the  other.  You  might  as  well  say, 
the  fearful  flash  of  the  red  lightning  can  never  appear,  be- 
cause all  light  in  its  original  perfection  is  purely  white. 
The  more  our  God  is  Love  in  fhe  harmony  of  ai  his 

*1  Cor.  iii.  21,  22. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF   GOD  AS  MANIFESTED  IN  CHRIST.      305 

attributes,  and  in  the  harmony  of  all  his  works  and 
ways,  the  more  must  he  be  "  a  consuming  fire "  to 
those  who,  instead  of  harmonizing  in  their  hearts  and 
ways  with  his  will,  exhibit  rebellion  where  there  should  be 
love,  and  reject  that  great  manifestation  of  the  love  of 
God  toward  us,  his  only  begotten  Son,  sent  into  the  world 
that  they  might  live  through  him.  Surely,  the  earthly 
ruler  is  not  less  the  loving  magistrate,  when  he  bars  the 
prison  upon  the  criminal,  than  when  he  opens  the  door  of 
some  peaceful  asylum  to  the  needy  and  deserving.  You 
know  it  is  just  the  contrary.  The  more  he  is  love,  the 
more  is  he  just ;  the  more  will  he  uphold  the  just  law ;  the 
more  will  he  be  stern  against  transgressors ;  the  more  the 
obedient  can  rely  on  him,  because  the  more  must  the  dis- 
obedient be  afraid  of  him.  Mercy  is  not  love.  In  some 
minds  it  is  the  antagonist  of  the  ends  of  true  love. 
Tenderness  in  an  earthly  ruler,  compassion  that  lays  aside 
the  penalty  of  the  law,  is  not  love.  It  may  be  the  very 
reverse;  producing  results  which  true  love  would  of  all 
things  most  deprecate.  You  must  think  of  God  always 
as  having  a  law  to  uphold  and  honor,  a  moral  government 
of  boundless  extent  to  sustain.  You  must  take  care  to 
remember,  that  however  dear  to  him  is  every  immortal 
soul;  however  he  "desireth  not  the  death  of  a  sinner,  but 
rather  that  he  may  turn  unto  him  and  live ;"  infinitely 
dearer  to  him  are  his  own  law,  and  government,  and  holi- 
ness, and  truth,  all  of  which  are  pledged  for  the  punish- 
ment of  sin ;  and  the  very  fact  that  God  is  Love,  not 
mercy,  not  compassion,  not  goodness,  not  holiness,  not 
justice,  not  wisdom,  but  the  meeting  and  harmonizing  of 
all  these  in  that  love  which  includes  and  employs  all,  each 
20 


306  SERMON   XIII. 

in  its  place,  in  a  perfect  government  over  all  creatures  in 
heaven  and  earth,  and  under  the  earth,  is  as  much  the 
assurance  that  the  sinner  who  doth  not  turn  unto  him 
must  perish  under  the  wrath  of  his  law,  as  that  the  peni- 
tent sinner  who  doth  turn  unto  him  shall  live  in  the  full- 
ness of  his  grace  and  glory.  "  The  terror  of  the  Lord  " 
is  not  another  part  of  God's  character,  but  the  same.  It 
is  only  that  character  of  love  seen  from  another  quarter, 
in  manifestation  on  another  surface,  in  exercise  toward 
another  object;  just  as  the  same  pillar  of  fire  was  all 
brightness  and  consolation  toward  God's  people,  and  all 
darkness  and  dismay  toward  their  enemies.  All  depends 
upon  us — upon  the  position  from  which  we  look  at  God, 
the  direction  from  which  we  come  to  him.  Do  we  con- 
template him  from  amidst  his  own  reconciled  people — do 
we  come  to  him  with  hearts  turned  unto  him,  seeking  him 
through  his  only  Son,  our  only  Saviour  ?  then  he  is  love, 
and  because  he  is  love,  our  salvation  and  blessedness  in 
his  kingdom  are  sure — all  is  light.  But  is  it  from  the 
opposite  quarter,  from  among  those  who  would  not  have 
him  to  reign  over  them,  and  would  not  seek  him,  but  re- 
ject his  grace?  then  is  he  still  infinite  love;  and  for  that 
very  reason,  your  condemnation  and  rejection  are  certain. 
There  is  now  no  salvation  for  you ;  you  are  lost  forever,  ex- 
cept you  are  in  Christ  Jesus.  God,  in  wonderful  love, 
has  provided  a  way  by  which  we  may  live  before  him ;  by 
which  the  most  sinful,  truly  repenting,  may  live  in  his 
peace  and  glory  forever.  But  it  is  "through  his  only 
begotten  Son"  The  way  is  broad  enough  for  all.  The  in- 
vitation is  free  enough  and  urgent  enough  for  all.  None 
are  cast  out  that  come  in  that  way.  None  are  accepted 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  GOD  AS  MANIFESTED  IN  CHRIST.      307 

that  come  in  any  other.  None  that  perish  will  have  any 
to  accuse  but  themselves.  "Ye  will  not  come  unto  me 
that  ye  might  have  life,"  is  the  Saviour's  kind  remonstrance 
with  them  now.  Ye  would  not  come  unto  me,  that  ye 
might  have  life,  will  be  his  stern  rebuke  and  condemnation, 
when  they  meet  him  as  the  Judge  of  quick  and  dead,  and 
find  themselves  cast  out,  and  condemned,  and  lost,  to  all 
eternity. 

God  is  love.  His  saints,  made  perfect  in  his  likeness, 
are  love.  Heaven,  the  communion  of  God  and  his  saints, 
is  love.  What  is  hell?  Only  think  of  it  as  having,  in 
its  fallen  angels  and  its  lost  immortal  souls,  no  love;  their 
intellectual  powers  and  all  the  capacities  and  desires  of 
their  fallen  nature  in  fullest  vigor,  but  no  love  !  What  then 
must  be  that  awful  fellowship — that  communion  of  the  lost ! 
Saviour,  we  flee  to  thee  !  Oh !  bind  our  hearts  to  thee. 
In  thee  may  it  be  the  prayer  and  striving  of  our  whole  life 
to  be  found,  each  hour  of  life,  that  wherever  death  may 
find  us  we  may  be  safe  in  thee ! 


SERMON  XIV. 


THE  BELIEVER'S  HIDDEN  LIFE  IN  CHRIST. 


COLOSSIANS  iii.  3,  4. 

"  Ye  are  dead,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God  :  when  Christ,  who  is 
our  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall  ye  also  appear  with  him  in  glory."* 

THESE  words  are  addressed  to  all  who  trust  that  they 
have  become  truly  followers  and  partakers  of  Christ,  by 
having  experienced  in  their  hearts  the  quickening  power 
of  his  Spirit,  raising  them  from  the  death  of  sin  to  a  new 
and  spiritual  life.  The  Apostle  has  just  exhorted  them 
thus: — "If  ye  then  be  risen  with  Christ,  seek  those 
things  which  are  above,  where  Christ  sitteth  on  the  right 
hand  of  God;" — that  is — If  indeed  ye  have  followed 
Christ  in  his  resurrection,  so  that  by  his  grace  you  have 
risen  from  spiritual  death  to  newness  of  life,  then  follow 
him  in  his  ascension ;  follow  him  in  your  hearts,  to  where 
he  now  sitteth,  at  the  right  hand  of  God ;  set  your  affec- 
tion, not  on  things  on  the  earth,  where  Jesus  is  not,  and 
where  the  portion  of  his  people  cannot  be,  but  on  things 
above ;  those  eternal,  ineffable  glories,  of  which  He  is  the 
centre,  and  source,  and  being.  And  then,  as  a  reason 
why  Christians  should  thus  ascend  in  their  affections  to 
where  Christ  now  is,  amidst  "  things  above,"  he  bids  them 
remember  that  they  are  " dead"  and  their  " life  is  hid 

*  Preached  in  Carfax  Church,  Oxford,  England,  May  15,  1853. 


THE  BELIEVER'S  HIDDEN  LIFE  IN  CHRIST.  309 

with  Christ  in  God; "  adding,  as  a  most  stimulating  mo- 
tive to  that  heavenward  setting  of  their  affections,  the 
glorious  assurance,  that  "when  Christ,  who  is  our  life, 
shall  appear,"  then  shall  all  that  are  his,  who  have  set 
their  hearts  upon  him  as  their  Saviour  and  portion,  "  ap- 
pear with  him  in  glory." 

Such  is  the  connection  of  our  text.  Let  us  take  up 
its  parts : — 

1st.  "  Ye  are  dead"  The  persons  addressed  are  true 
Christians.  In  what  sense  is  the  Christian  dead?  We 
answer,  dead  to  sin.  The  fact  that  he  is  risen  with 
Christ,  or  by  virtue  of  the  death  and  resurrection  of 
Christ,  to  newness  of  life,  implies  that  he  is  crucified  with 
Christ,  and  so  has  become  dead  unto  sin.  The  Apostle, 
speaking '  of  Christ  and  Christians,  says :  "  In  that  he 
died,  he  died  unto  sin  once;  but  in  that  he  liveth,  he  liv- 
eth  unto  God.  Likewise  reckon  ye  also  yourselves  to  be 
dead  indeed  unto  sin,  but  alive  unto  God,  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord."* 

In  all  men,  there  is  at  the  same  time  both  death  and 
life ;  death  unto  God,  and  life  to  sin ;  or  else  life  unto 
God  and  death  to  sin.  The  heart  unrenewed  by  the 
Spirit  of  Christ,  is  dead  to  God ;  dead  to  things  above  ; 
dead  to  the  love  of  Christ ;  dead  to  the  motives  and  affec- 
tions of  the  Christian  life.  It  has  no  pleasure  in  them, 
nor  desire  for  them,  nor  sensibility  to  them.  It  lies  in 
the  grave  of  its  alienation  from  God,  as  deaf  to  his  heav- 
enly invitations  and  promises,  as  the  dead  body  in  the 
sepulchre  is  deaf  to  all  the  sounds  of  the  world  above  it 
Such,  before  God,  my  dear  brethren,  are  all  here — young 

*Romans  vi.  9. 


310  SERMON  XIV. 

and  old,  the  gay  and  the  grave,  the  most  amiable,  and 
the  most  upright,  and  the  most  refined,  until  there  take 
place  in  them  a  spiritual  resurrection — till  they  be  raised 
up  by  the  power  of  the  Spirit  of  our  risen  Saviour,  breath- 
ing into  them  the  breath  of  a  new  and  holy  life. 

But  that  death  is  all  alive — a  living  death.  Precisely 
that  which  is  the  death  of  the  heart  towards  God,  is  its 
life  to  the  world  and  sin.  How  quick  the  sensibility  of 
that  unrenewed  heart  to  all  that  is  seen  and  temporal,  as 
its  substitute  for  all  that  is  unseen  and  eternal.  How 
naturally  and  easily  it  sins,  and  perseveres  in  sin.  Its 
affections  need  no  exhortations  or  urgent  sermons  to  per- 
suade them  in  that  direction.  Tell  it  of  the  love  of  Christ, 
and  how  cold  it  is.  Tell  it  of  the  praise  or  gain  of  the 
world,  and  how  it  kindles  with  life.  Under  the  loudest, 
most  powerful  declarations  of  the  will  of  God,  it  hears 
not.  But  let  the  will  of  the  flesh,  or  the  will  of  man,  but 
whisper  its  command  and  reward,  and  how  keen  the  hear- 
ing ;  and  how  immediately  the  question  of  obedience 
receives  the  needful  consideration! 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  heart  of  the  true  servant 
of  Christ  is  dead,  and  yet  is  alive.  Sin  hath  lost  its  do- 
minion over  him.  Its  power  is  broken.  He  is  created 
anew  in  Christ.  He  is  risen  with  Christ  from  the  death 
of  sin;  and  though,  like  Lazarus  coming  up  out  of  the 
sepulchre,  "bound  hand  and  foot  with  grave-clothes,"  the 
bonds  of  that  old  spiritual  death  be  not  all  removed,  he 
is  no  more  dead  in  sin,  but  is  alive  unto  God — alive  to 
the  voice  of  his  will,  alive  to  the  enjoyments  of  his  ser- 
vice, alive  to  the  attractions  of  holiness,  alive  to  the  per- 
suading, animating,  subduing  power  of  the  love  of  Christ. 


THE  BELIEVER'S  HIDDEN  LIFE  IN  CHRIST.  311 

The  great  motives  of  godliness  find  a  true  response  in  his 
heart.  There  is  a  communion  of  nature  between  them 
and  him.  They  draw  in  the  direction  of  his  affections. 
Religion,  with  him,  instead  of  a  mere  form  of  outward 
observances,  like  a  vesture  thrown  over  a  stone,  is  an  in- 
ward spring  of  life  and  love.  Instead  of  a  mere  accretion 
of  works,  wrought  out  independently  of  all  discrimination 
of  motive  %nd  inward  affection;  religion  with  him  is  a 
new  heart,  having  God  for  its  chosen  portion,  Jesus  for 
its  precious  example,  and  trust,  and  strength;  seeking 
present  holiness  for  its  present  happiness;  eternal  holiness 
for  its  coveted,  eternal  inheritance;  and  good  works  of 
righteousness  as  naturally  and  as  necessarily  flowing  from 
all,  as  a  fountain  sends  out  its  stream. 

But  here  it  is  well  to  say,  we  are  not  teaching  that  the 
servant  of  Christ  in  the  present  life  is  as  dead  to  sin  as 
the  unrenewed  man  is  dead  to  God ;  nor  that  he  is  as  alive 
unto  God  as  the  other  is  alive  to  the  world  and  sin.  Such, 
indeed,  will  be  the  attainment  of  the  child  of  grace,  when 
grace  shall  have  finished  in  glory  the  work  which  is  now 
being  carried  on  in  his  heart.  The  morning  light  is  ad- 
vancing unto  the  perfect  day.  The  child  is  growing  into 
the  full  development  of  the  stature  of  the  perfect  man. 
The  spiritual  life  is  getting  more  and  more  complete  do- 
minion. The  spiritual  death  is  surrendering  one  remnant 
after  another  of  its  broken  sceptre.  Meanwhile,  however, 
there  is  a  remnant  of  that  death.  The  Canaanite  is  van- 
quished, but  is  yet  in  the  land,  and  ready  at  any  opportu- 
nity to  assault  and  wound,  if  not  to  slay.  The  serpent  is 
bruised  with  a  deadly  blow,  but  is  not  dead,  and  has  venom 
still.  The  malefactor  at  the  side  of  the  crucified  Jesus, 


312  SERMON  XIV. 

was  essentially  dead.  Life  was  certainly,  though  slowly, 
ebbing  away  under  the  wounds  of  his  crucifixion.  But  he 
was  not  so  dead  that  he  could  not  turn  upon  the  Lord  of 
life  at  his  side,  and  assault  him  with  bitter  mockery  and 
reviling.  So  our  old  nature,  crucified  with  Christ,  how- 
ever essentially  dead  to  sin,  has  life  enough  remaining  to 
make  us  know  that  the  malefactor  within  us  has  yet  to  be 
watched,  and  that  our  warfare  is  not  yet  accomplished. 
The  time  is  at  hand  when  that  death  unto  sin  will  be  com- 
pleted, and  our  newness  of  life  will  be  consummated  : 
when  all  of  spiritual  corruption  will  be  laid  aside  in  the 
grave,  and  all  of  spiritual  perfectness  will  be  put  on  in 
heaven,  and  our  souls  shall  be  with  Christ  at  the  right 
hand  of  God. 

2d.  Let  us  come  now  to  the  second  part  of  our  text — 
"Your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God." 

"Your  life;"  ye  who  are  "risen  with  Christ."  Your 
life,  as  Christ's  people — the  life  of  your  faith — that  which 
makes  you,  and  sustains  you,  as  servants  of  God.  It  is  a 
life  so  foreign  from  all  that  is  natural  to  man,  so  different 
from  any  other  manifestation  of  life  in  this  world,  so  much 
like  that  of  some  beautiful  exotic  of  the  conservatory,  the 
food  and  the  atmosphere  of  which  are  exclusive  and  pecu- 
liar to  itself,  that  as  we  look  at  a  faithful,  heavenly-minded 
Christian,  "  in  the  world,"  but  not  "  of  the  world,"  living 
by  a  life  evidently  pertaining  to  another  world,  we  are 
moved  to  ask,  how  has  he  that  very  peculiar,  that  un- 
earthly life?  And  the  answer  of  the  text  is — It  is  "with 
Christ"  There  is  the  fountain.  With  the  Christian  it  is 
in  regard  to  operation ;  with  Christ  in  point  of  habitation. 
We  receive  the  supply.  Jesus  keeps  the  source.  The 


THE  BELIEVER'S  HIDDEN  LIFE  IN  CHRIST.  313 

unsearchable  riches,  the  inexhaustible  fullness  of  all  our 
spiritual  life,  is  indivisibly  in  him.  Out  of  that  fullness 
we  receive,  day  by  day,  grace  to  help  in  time  of  need. 
The  manna  comes  down  upon  the  Church  while  making 
her  way  through  the  wilderness  to  the  heavenly  land,  not 
to  be  deposited  in  her  treasury  or  with  her  ministers,  as 
bread  laid  up  for  future  need.  It  is  given  day  by  day, 
directly  from  heaven ;  the  daily  supply  of  daily  wants. 
"  As  thy  day  is,  so  shall  thy  strength  be."  Now,  as  at 
the  beginning,  it  is  "tvith  Christ."  He  has  never  parted 
with  it  in  any  sense,  so  as  to  vest  the  possession  or  the 
distribution  anywhere  else.  He  will  have  every  one  of 
his  people,  and  all  his  Church,  to  realize  at  every  moment 
the  most  perfect  dependence  upon  him  for  the  daily  con- 
tinuance, by  his  own  personal  and  direct  ministration,  of 
that  spiritual  life  which  he  only  did  originally  create.  He 
will  keep  the  Christian  always  consciously  weak  him- 
self, that  he  may  be  strong  in  the  Lord;  always  poor  in 
himself,  that  he  may  be  rich  in  faith  and  in  supplies  out  of 
his  Saviour's  fullness;  always  knowing  that  while  he  lives 
unto  Christ,  he  lives  only  by  Christ,  by  new  applications 
of  prayer,  and  new  communications  of  grace. 

It  is  written  concerning  the  chosen  people  in  the  way, 
from  Egypt  to  Canaan,  "They  did  all  drink  the  same 
spiritual  drink,  for  they  drank  of  that  spiritual  rock  that 
followed  them,  and  that  rock  was  Christ."  And  we  may 
add,  that  as  that  rock  represented  Christ — so,  in  that 
chosen  people,  all  drinking  therefrom,  all  as  dependent 
thereupon,  one  day  as  another,  one  year  as  another ;  never 
becoming  any  more  capable  of  living  without  the  con- 
stant renewal  of  the  first  supplies ;  all  drinking  immedi- 
ately from  that  rock,  without  any  intermediate  ministry 


314  SERMON   XIV. 

or  priesthood — in  that  people  was  represented  the  whole 
blessed  communion  and  fellowship  of  God's  peculiar  peo- 
ple in  all  ages  and  parts  of  the  world,  in  union  with  their 
common  life ;  all  drinking  the  same  spiritual  drink ;  all 
receiving  their  supplies  day  by  day;  all  seeking  them  in 
none  but  Christ,  directly  from  him,  and  none  ever  com- 
ing unto  him  in  vain. 

3d.  But  let  us  draw  nearer  to  this  great  mystery  of 
grace.  Your  life  is  not  only  with  Christ — it  is  Christ. 
So  speaks  our  text  most  positively  :  "  When  Christ,  who  is 
our  life,  shall  appear,"  &c.  What  can  be  more  intimate 
than  the  union  between  the  believer  and  the  Saviour ! 
We  receive  for  our  salvation  not  merely  our  Lord's  prom- 
ises, but  the  Lord  himself;  not  merely  what  he  im- 
parts, but  what  he  is.  He  himself  is  our  bread,  and 
strength,  and  life,  and  hope,  and  glory.  It  is  he  that 
is  "made  unto  us,  of  God,  wisdom,  and  righteousness, 
and  sanctification,  and  redemption." 

How  frequently  and  strongly  do  we  find  in  the  scrip- 
tures this  identifying  of  our  spiritual  life  with  the  per- 
son of  our  blessed  Lord,  as  being  himself  that  very  life. 
For  example  :  "The  bread  of  God  is  he  which  came  down 
from  heaven,  and  giveth  life  unto  the  world."  "  I  am  that 
bread  of  life."  "  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life." 
"I  am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life."  "He  that  hath 
the  Son  hath  life."  "  He  that  abideth  in  me,  and  I  in  him, 
the  same  bringeth  forth  much  fruit." 

The  object  in  such  passages  certainly  is  to  draw  the 
reliance  of  our  hearts  as  near  as  possible  to  the  very  per^ 
son,  and  immediate  communion,  of  our  ever-living  Saviour. 
We  are  prone  to  trust  in  means  of  grace,  as  if  they  were 


THE  BELIEVER'S  HIDDEN  LIFE  IN  CHRIST.  315 

grace,  or  could  communicate  grace;  to  use  the  sacraments 
of  Christ  too  much  as  substitutes  for  himself,  or  deposito- 
ries of  his  gifts;  instead  of  the  means  by  which,  under 
the  power  of  his  Spirit  and  the  light  of  his  word,  we  are 
to  get  the  nearer  to  him,  and  thus,  by  faith,  partake 
directly  in  his  fullness.  The  object  in  such  scriptures  as 
I  have  just  cited,  is,  to  keep  most  distinct  in  our  minds 
the  important  truth,  that  whatever  the  value  of  the  di- 
vinely instituted  ordinances  and  ministry  of  the  Gospel ; 
however  precious  even  that  revealed  truth  of  the  Gospel 
in  which,  under  the  form  of  scripture,  Christ  is  set  before 
us ;  our  new  life  cannot  be  found  in  them.  They  may 
lead  us  to  the  life  ;  they  cannot  give  the  life.  The  Chris- 
tian must  use  them,  but  he  must  not  rest  in  them.  Noth- 
ing must  for  a  moment  interfere  with  his  reliance  upon,  or 
his  looking  directly  unto,  Jesus.  The  life  that  he  lives  in 
the  flesh  must  be  in  all  things,  at  each  moment,  a  life  of 
faith  in  the  Son  of  God;  and  that  faith  embracing,  lean- 
ing upon,  applying  to,  and  receiving  from,  the  Son  of  God; 
most  directly  and  immediately. 

But  we  advance  to  a  further  declaration  of  our  text. 
The  Christian's  spiritual  life  is  said  to  be  "hid  with 
Christ:' 

It  is  hidden  from  the  Christian  and  from  all  that  would 
ruin  his  soul.  The  life  of  the  stream  from  which  you 
quench  your  thirst  in  the  valley,  is  hid  when  its  source  is 
far  out  of  sight  in  the  height  of  the  mountain,  where  the 
hand  of  man  can  never  reach  to  defile  or  diminish  it.  So 
is  our  life  "  hid  ivitli  Christ:'  He  who  by  the  suffering  of 
death  became  our  life,  by  resurrection  from  death  and 
exaltation  to  the  right  hand  of  God,  became  our  hidden 


316  SERMON  XIV. 

life.  The  rock  from  which  we  all  drink  the  same  spiritual 
drink,  is  high  in  the  mount  of  God,  where  no  eye  but  that 
of  faith  can  reach,  where  no  foot  but  that  of  prayer  can 
mount. 

When  the  whole  population  of  a  city  depends  for  water 
upon  one  single  stream,  and  the  city  is  encompassed  with 
enemies,  who  would  gladly  get  at  its  source,  to  poison  it, 
how  great  is  the  comfort  of  the  dependent  people,  to 
know  that  its  spring  is  hid  in  the  height  of  the  moun- 
tain, where  no  enmity  of  man  can  approach.  But  how 
much  greater  the  security  and  the  comfort,  when  not  only 
the  source  of  the  stream,  but  all  its  ways  and  channels, 
by  which  it  reaches  the  people  within  the  city,  are  so  hid- 
den, that  no  malice  of  the  enemy  can  find  them  out,  to 
divert  or  pollute  them.  Such  a  city  is  the  living  Church, 
which  is  the  blessed  company  of  all  God's  living  people, 
and  which  contains  none  else.  The  life  of  every  one  of 
those  members  depends  on  one  single  fountain.  Cut  off 
their  communication  therewith,  or  poison  its  supplies,  and 
all  perish.  Abundant  is  the  enmity  of  Satan,  and  of  the 
thousand  agencies  which  he  employs  in  this  world,  to  ac- 
complish that  work,  if  it  be  possible  to  the  power  or  skill 
of  any  created  being.  How  earnest  and  repeated  were 
his  attempts  at  that  very  end,  when  our  Lord  was  on  the 
earth.  The  temptations  which  he  addressed  to  the  Sav- 
iour, in  the  desert — what  was  their  object  but  to  intro- 
duce, if  it  were  possible,  only  one  sinful  thought  or  wish 
into  that  holy  mind,  and  thus  forever  poison  the  source  of 
all  our  spiritual  life?  But  our  blessed  Lord  is  now  exalted 
to  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high.  Within  the 
veil  of  the  heavenly  sanctuary;  under  the  shadow  of  the 


THE  BELIEVER'S  HIDDEN  LIFE  IN  CHRIST.  317 

Almighty;  in  the  brightness  of  the  glory  of  our  ascended 
and  glorified  Redeemer,  is  your  life  now  hid.  Satan  has 
no  access  there ;  the  thousand  polluting  influences  of  the 
world,  by  which  all  on  earth  is  so  defiled,  have  no  access 
there.  Our  own  follies,  and  infirmities,  and  sins,  have  no 
access  there.  We  can  receive  out  of  that  blessed  source 
of  life,  but  we  cannot  reach  it.  It  is  hid  from  the  believer 
who  lives  by  it,  as  well  as  from  the  powers  of  darkness 
that  would  cut  off  our  access  to  it.  It  is  written  of  him 
in  whom  is  that  life,  "Whom  having  not  seen,  we  love;  in 
whom,  though  now  we  see  him  not,  yet  believing,  we  re- 
joice." "The  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever,"  is 
that  mysterious,  unsearchable,  glorious  life  of  all  the 
Church  of  God. 

But  we  have  the  additional  comfort  of  knowing  that  the 
ways  by  which  that  life  comes  to  and  refreshes  the  hearts 
of  the  people  of  God,  are  hidden,  as  well  as  its  origin  in 
Christ.  It  is  written  of  the  servant  of  God,  that  "  He 
shall  be  as  the  tree  planted  ly  flu  rivers  of  water"  And 
it  is  written  of  that  servant's  Saviour  and  hope,  that  he 
shall  be  to  his  people,  "  as  rivers  of  water  in  a  dry  place" 
And  the  Psalmist,  speaking  of  that  precious  consolation, 
says,  "There  is  a  river,  the  streams  whereof  shall  make 
glad  the  city  of  God,  the  holy  place  of  the  tabernacle  of 
the  Most  High."  On  the  strength  of  that  assurance,  he 
exclaimed,  "  God  is  in  the  midst  of  her ;  she  shall  not  be 
moved:  God  shall  help  her,  and  that  right  early.  The 
Lord  of  Hosts  is  with  us;  the  God  of  Jacob  is  our  refuge." 
But  that  river  is  out  of  sight  to  the  world.  Its  waters 
reach  the  heart  of  the  servant  of  God,  and  become  "  a 
very  present  help"  just  in  the  time  of  need,  by  ways  un- 


318  SERMON  XIV. 

known  but  to  Him  who  knoweth  all  things.  No  persecu- 
tion can  find  them  out,  to  cut  them  off.  "Your  life  is 
hid."  The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  thou  near- 
est the  sound  thereof,  but  canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh 
or  whither  it  goeth ;  so  (said  our  Lord)  is  every  one  that 
is  born  of  the  Spirit."  And  we  add,  so  is  every  one  that 
is  sustained,  and  sanctified,  and  refreshed  in  the  divine 
life,  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  Secret,  inscrutable,  beyond  the 
malice  of  man  and  of  Satan,  is  the  way  of  communion 
between  the  soul  of  the  believer  and  his  spiritual  life  in 
Christ.  Is  some  child  of  God  the  banished  victim  of  per- 
secution, dwelling  in  caves  of  the  earth,  or  buried  alive  in 
dungeons  of  the  Papal  inquisition,  cut  off  by  priests  of 
Antichrist  from  all  the  ordinances  of  the  visible  Church 
and  all  the  visible  communion  of  its  means  of  grace ; 
still  there  is  a  river  of  God,  full  of  water,  to  make  glad 
that  thirsting  heart.  His  communion  therewith  is  un- 
changed. Antichrist  knows  not  its  ways.  Satan  cannot 
hinder  them.  It  springs  up  in  the  prison  of  the  perse- 
cuted believer,  and  amidst  the  flames  of  the  Christian 
martyr.  As  soon  as  we  need  it,  and  seek  it,  it  is  present. 
We  drink  of  that  Spiritual  Rock  that  follows  us  all  the 
way  of  this  wilderness;  but  how  it  follows  us,  is  kid.  And 
we  rejoice  that  it  is  so;  hid  in  its  source;  hid  in  its 
streams ;  hid  from  the  power  of  Satan ;  hid  from  the  fol- 
lies and  the  violence  of  man;  inaccessible  even  to  the 
Christian  believer,  in  the  infirmities  of  his  present  nature, 
except  simply  as  he  may  apply  thereto  in  the  prayer  of 
faith,  and  receive  out  of  the  fullness  of  Christ,  as  every 
one  hath  need. 

But  there  is  still  a  stronger  expression  in  our  text. 


THE  BELIEVER'S  HIDDEN  LIFE  IN  CHRIST,  319 

Your  life  is  said  to  be  not  only  "hid  with  Christ"  but 
"hid  with  Christ  in  God." 

There  is  a  reference  here  to  the  mediatorial  work  and 
office  of  our  Lord,  as  depending  on  the  union  of  the  two 
natures,  divine  and  human,  in  the  person  of  the  Christ, 
and  also  to  the  divine  nature  that  he  had  from  eternity, 
as  the  original  source  whence  all  the  spiritual  life,  which, 
as  Christ  the  Mediator,  he  bestows  on  sinners,  is  derived. 
As  Jesus  is  our  Mediator  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  hav- 
ing obtained  eternal  redemption  for  us;  as  he  is  the  God- 
man,  in  whom  it  pleased  the  Father  that  all  fullness 
should  dwell;  as  he  is  exalted  to  be  head  over  all  things 
to  his  Church,  our  life  is  with  him.  He  is  the  ultimate 
and  only  source  to  which  we  go  for  new  supplies.  He  is 
"made  unto  us  (saith  St.  Paul)  wisdom,  and  righteous- 
ness, and  sanctification,  and  redemption."  These  are  life 
eternal.  But,  saith  the  Apostle,  he  is  "made  unto  us  of 
God" — these  precious  gifts.  An  expression  precisely 
corresponding  with  that  of  the  text — "with  Christ  in 
God"  As  Christ  is  both  God  and  man,  the  foundation 
of  our  life  is  in  our  union  of  these  two  natures ;  but  as  he 
was  from  all  eternity  God,  before  he  came  in  the  nature 
of  man,  and  as  all  he  did  and  suffered  for  us,  in  man's 
nature,  received  its  whole  redeeming  value  and  efficacy 
from  its  union  with  the  nature  of  God;  therefore  is  that 
divine  nature  the  original  source  whence  the  fullness  of 
that  hid  fountain  proceeds;  therefore  we  read,  "with 
Christ  in  God" 

The  same  great  truth  is  exhibited  in  that  vision  of  St. 
John,  wherein  he  beheld  "  the  holy  city,  New  Jerusalem  ;" 
"the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light."  He  saw  "a  pure 


320  SERMON  XIV. 

river  of  water  of  life,  clear  as  crystal,  proceeding  out  of 
the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb,"  representing  the 
life  of  the  people  of  God  in  their  heavenly  heritage." 
"  A  pure  river,  clear  as  crystal"  Beautiful  image  of  per- 
fect felicity!  But  mark  whence  that  river  issues  :  "pro- 
ceeding out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb"  Its 
origin,  "hid  with  Christ  in  God."  The  grace  that  saves  us 
has  all  its  head-springs  in  the  unsearchable  depths  of  the 
being  and  government  of  God.  It  proceeds  from  under 
the  very  throne  of  the  sovereignty  of  Jehovah;  all  his 
authority  and  power  are  its  warrant ;  all  the  infinite  riches 
of  God  are  its  supply;  all  the  attributes  of  his  nature — 
justice,  and  holiness,  and  truth,  as  well  as  mercy  and  com- 
passion— unite  in  sending  it  forth  for  the  life  of  the  world. 
But,  mark,  it  is  the  throne  also  of  the  Lainb  whence  it 
proceeds.  The  life  comes  not  to  sinners  except  by  the 
mediation  of  the  once  crucified,  now  glorified  and  en- 
throned Lamb  of  God;  through  his  sacrifice  on  earth,  and 
his  intercession  in  heaven.  But  issuing  through  that  ex- 
alted mediation,  supplied  out  of  the  unsearchable  grace  of 
God,  it  comes  forth,  not  a  rivulet  for  a  few,  but  a  river  of 
life  for  a  whole  world — so  full,  so  free,  that  whosoever  will 
is  entreated  to  come,  and  drink,  and  live  forever.  "  There 
is  a  river,  the  streams  whereof  shall  make  glad  the  city 
of  our  God."  The  Prophet  Isaiah,  standing  as  if  upon 
its  banks,  sounded  the  proclamation,  "Ho,  every  one  that 
thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters."  Jesus  was  still  nearer 
to  it,  when  he  stood  and  cried,  "  If  any  man  thirst,  let 
him  come  unto  me  and  drink."  The  way  to  it  is  all  plain. 
The  invitations  to  it  are  all  free.  Thousands  of  thousands 
have  received  thereof,  and  are  now  where  they  behold  it  in 


THE  BELIEVER'S  HIDDEN  LIFE  IN  CHRIST.  321 

all  its  breadth  and  fullness,  proceeding  out  of  the  throne 
of  God  and  the  Lamb.  To  them  and  to  us,  it  is  equally 
the  life  that  it  is  "with  Christ  in  God"  All  the  stability 
of  the  throne  of  God;  all  the  unchangeableness  of  the 
nature  of  God;  all  the  boundless  love  of  God  in  Christ  to 
sinners,  are  thus  our  assurance,  that  it  is  a  life  which  no 
necessities  of  his  people  can  diminish;  no  devices  of  Satan 
reach;  no  corruptions  of  man  pollute;  as  pure,  as  inex- 
haustible, as  eternal,  as  God. 

But  there  remains  yet  one  declaration  of  our  text. 
Your  life  is  not  always  to  be  hid.  Now  we  see  not  him  in 
whom  we  believe  as  our  life.  He  is  gone  to  receive  his 
kingdom — to  prepare  the  mansions  in  his  Father's  house 
for  his  ransomed  brethren.  He  will  come  again — "Christ, 
who  is  our  life,"  saith  the  text,  u  shall  appear."  "  Every 
eye  shall  see  him,"  of  them  "  that  pierced  him,"  and  of 
them  that  trust  in  him.  "  His  appearing"  will  then  be, 
not  as  "the  man  of  sorrows,"  the  despised  Nazarene,  with 
a  little  band  of  feeble  disciples  following  his  steps;  but  as 
the  "Great  God  and  Saviour,"  "  far  above  all  principality, 
and  power,  and  might,  and  dominion," — coming  in  the 
clouds  of  heaven  with  the  glory  of  the  Father,  and  with 
all  the  hosts  of  heaven  attending  his  word.  Then  will  our 
life  be  manifested,  because  he  will  be  seen;  "we  shall  see 
him  as  he  is"  He  will  appear  to  his  beloved  people  in  all 
his  unspeakable  glory.  They  shall  know,  as  they  never 
knew  before,  in  whom  they  believed;  so  that  all  shall  realize, 
indeed,  that  eye  had  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nor  had  it 
ever  entered  into  their  hearts  to  conceive,  what  a  precious 
Saviour,  what  a  glorious  heritage,  they  embraced  when 
they  chose  their  portion  in  Jesus. 
21 


322  SERMON   XIV. 

But  not  only  will  Christ,  the  life,  appear  in  that  day, 
but  all  to  whom  he  has  given  life  shall  "  appear  tvith  him 
in  glory  "  The  glorious  vine,  with  all  its  innumerable 
branches,  and  all  the  clustering  and  ripened  fruit  of  its 
own  life,  "  the  travail  of  the  soul "  of  our  Redeemer,  the 
purchase  of  his  atoning  blood,  the  whole  blessed  com- 
munion of  saints,  from  the  eldest  born  of  the  oldest  dis- 
pensation of  the  covenant  of  salvation,  through  all  the 
generations  of  those  who  were  ever  united  to  him  by  a 
living  faith — all  shall  appear  together,  as  one  mystical 
body,  one  royal  priesthood,  one  holy  nation,  entering  into 
the  glory  of  their  infinitely  exalted  Head.  It  will  be 
"the  day  of  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God;"  the 
•day  of  the  manifestation  of  those  who  are  sons  of  God, 
in  distinction  from  those  who  are  not ;  of  those  who  have 
really  had  their  life  "with  Christ  in  God,"  and  so  have 
lived  a  life  of  faith,  from  those  who,  under  the  profession 
of  such  life,  had  all  their  life  in  the  flesh,  and  with  the 
world. 

We  speak  commonly  of  "  the  invisible  Church"  as  dis- 
tinguished from  the  visible;  because  it  doth  not  now  appear 
to  us,  who  are  alive  unto  God,  and  who  are  not — who  are 
the  true  Church  and  who  are  not.  The  line  between  the 
merely  professing  Christians  and  the  real  Christians ;  com- 
municants in  the  form  only,  and  communicants  in  the 
spirit;  the  Church  by  participation  in  sacrament  merely, 
and  the  Church  by  participation  in  the  life  of  Christ- — is 
now  a  hidden  line.  But  when  Christ  shall  appear,  his 
real  Church,  no  longer  in  any  sense  invisible,  shall  appear; 
the  vital  union  of  his  people  with  him,  their  inseparable 
life,  their  common  inheritance,  shall  appear.  All  that 


THE  BELIEVER'S  HIDDEN  LIFE  IN  CHRIST.  323 

were  branches  of  the  true  vine,  only  by  being  tied  to  it 
by  the  outward  bond  of  ordinances  and  forms,  having 
never  drank  into  its  life,  will  have  been  taken  away  and 
given  over  to  be  burned,  as  the  stubble;  while  every 
single  branch,  the  least,  the  feeblest,  that  was  united  to 
the  vine  by  an  inward  participation  of  life,  will  then  appear 
with  Christ  its  life  in  glory  —  the  vine  manifested  in  its 
branches — the  Saviour  glorified  in  all  his  brethren,  his 
Holy  Catholic  Church.  Oh!  who  can  tell  what  is  con- 
tained in  the  declaration : —  "  Then  shall  ye  also  appear 
with  him  in  glory  !  "  Think  of  the  glory  of  Christ  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God !  Think  of  our  being 
made  so  to  be  with  him,  in  that  glory,  that  not  only  are 
our  souls  joint-heirs  forever  with  him,  but  even  our  bodies 
are  to  be  made  "like  unto  his  glorious  body,  by  the 
mighty  working  whereby  he  is  able  to  subdue  all  things 
unto  himself;"  think  of  all  this  enjoyed  by  each  believer, 
in  communion  with  that  whole  brotherhood  of  the  Church 
of  God,  which  shall  be  then  gathered  out  of  all  genera- 
tions, and  all  kindreds  and  dispensations,  once  so  separa- 
ted, and  hid  one  from  another,  now  all  knowing  that  "they 
did  all  drink  the  same  spiritual  drink — for  they  drank  of 
that  spiritual  rock  that  followed  them,  and  that  rock  was 
Christ." 

Now,  my  brethren,  it  is  upon  the  broad  basis  of  all  the 
precious  and  animating  considerations  which  we  have  thus 
endeavored  to  present  to  you,  conscious  all  the  while,  how 
far  short  of  the  height  and  depth  of  the  text  we  have 
come,  that  we  are  exhorted  in  the  words  of  the  Apostle, 
immediately  following  the  text;  "Seek  those  things 
which  are  above,  where  Christ  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of 


324  SERMON  XIV. 

God.     Set  your  affections  on  things  above,  and  not  on 
things  on  the  earth." 

There  is  not  time  to  urge  this  exhortation.  It  speaks 
for  itself.  What  are  things  on  the  earth  for  a  Christian's 
affections  to  be  placed  on,  when  Christ  his  life  is  in  heaven, 
and  all  the  hope  of  his  soul  is  with  him  there ;  and  when, 
to  be  ready  to  meet  him  at  his  appearing,  and  to  appear 
with  him  when  he  cometh,  is  the  great  business  and  inter- 
est of  our  earthly  state  ? 

But  you  see,  brethren,  on  what  all  our  hope  depends. 
Shall  ive  appear  with  Christ  when  he  appears ;  partakers 
of  his  glory,  heirs  with  him  of  the  kingdom  ?  All  de- 
pends on  this — Is  he  now  our  life  ?  Have  we  sought  a 
new  life  in  him  ?  Are  we  conscious  of  having  found  a 
new  life  in  him?  Do  we  live  now  a  life  of  faith  on  him; 
a  life  of  holiness  by  him ;  a  life  of  good  works  unto  him  ? 
Can  we  say,  "  For  me  to  live  is  Christ?"  Then  may  we 
say  also,  "Forme  to  die  is  gain."  But  all  depends  on 
that  one  point — Christ  our  present  life.  Eternal  life  will 
be  not  a  new  life  to  the  believer,  but  the  present  Christian 
life  of  faith,  purified,  expanded,  ennobled ;  the  little  stream 
enlarged  by  open  communion  with  God's  unbounded  glory. 
Oh,  then,  dear  brethren,  seek  with  your  whole  hearts,  the 
experience  of  that  life  now  in  the  flesh.  "Hid  with 
Christ  in  God,"  you  can  attain  unto  it,  by  the  steps  of 
earnest  prayer,  leaning  upon  the  promises  and  invitations 
of  the  Gospel,  and  none  shall  fail  but  those  who,  in  that 
way,  will  not  seek  and  strive. 

But  have  I  not  been  speaking  to  many  in  this  congre- 
gation to  whom,  though  they  do  not  doubt  the  correctness 
of  my  exposition  of  the  text,  I  have  been  all  the  while 


THE  BELIEVER'S  HIDDEN  LIFE  IN  CHRIST.  325 

describing  an  experience,  a  life,  to  which  they  have  no 
responding  history,  to  which  they  feel  themselves  to  be 
entire  strangers  ?  Have  I  not  been  speaking  to  those  who 
know  nothing  of  any  life  but  that  which  they  have  in 
themselves,  and  to  whom  all  that  we  have  said  is  so  alien 
from  all  their  experience,  that  did  they  not  know  it  to  be 
scriptural,  they  would  think  it  visionary?  What  then, 
my  friends,  is  your  hope  ?  Can  you  have  your  portion  in 
Christ,  or  with  his  people  ?  Is  there  not  an  essential  con- 
nection between  that  hidden  life  of  the  heart  in  him  while 
we  abide  here,  and  that  manifested  life  of  his  people  with 
him,  when  they  shall  appear  with  him  in  glory?  If  you 
have  not  the  one,  can  you  attain  the  other  ?  If  the 
branch  abide  not  in  the  vine,  must  it  not  be  withered  and 
dead  ?  Can  you  be  sensible  that  in  your  soul  you  seek 
not  the  life  that  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God,  and  yet  in- 
dulge the  hope  that  when  he  appears,  you  will  have  a 
portion  in  that  very  life,  and  a  place  in  the  great  com- 
munion of  his  people  ?  "  If  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit 
of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his." 


SEEMOI  XV. 


THE  BELIEVER'S  PROGRESSIVE  LIFE  IN  CHRIST. 


PROVERBS  iv.  18. 

' '  The  path  of  the  just  is  as  the  shining  light  which  shineth  more  and  more, 
unto  the  perfect  day." 

THE  "just,"  in  this  verse,  are  the  righteous,  the  men  of  a 
genuine  faith  and  holiness.  "The  path  of  the  just"  is 
the  walk,  the  life,  the  habitual  character  of  such  men. 
The  passage  is  an  Old  Testament  description  of  the  gra- 
cious, happy,  useful  and  brightening  character  of  the  true 
servant  of  God,  in  contrast  with  another  path,  of  which 
the  inspired  writer  had  just  said  :  "  Avoid  it,  pass  not  by 
it,  turn  from  it,  and  pass  away."  "  The  way  of  the  wicked 
is  as  darkness" 

The  righteous  were  not  called  Christians  in  those  days. 
But  now  that  their  name  is  taken  from  that  of  him  in 
whose  righteousness  and  by  whose  Spirit  alone  they  can 
have  any  righteousness  before  God,  we  will  substitute  that 
new  name  for  that  by  which  they  are  called  in  the  text, 
and  will  read  the  verse  as  if  it  were  written,  the  path  of 
the  Christian  is  "  as  the  shining  light,  which  shineth  more 
and  more,  unto  the  perfect  day." 

I.  The  Christian,  in  his  habitual  walk  and  character, 
is  as  the  shining  light. 


THE  BELIEVER'S  PROGRESSIVE  LIFE  IN  CHRIST.        327 

How  beautiful  the  illustration !  Light  must  shine. 
You  may  hide  it,  but  shine  it  will.  Bury  it  in  a  dungeon 
— cover  it  with  clouds — it  shines  as  ever.  All  may  be 
blindness  around  it,  so  that  none  see  it,  but  it  shines.  Is 
it  a  diamond,  encrusted  with  earth,  in  the  rubbish  of  the 
mine  ?  It  makes  itself  known  by  its  shining.  Is  it  the 
glow-worm  creeping  on  the  ground?  You  know  it  by  its 
shining.  Such  is  genuine  Christian  piety.  It  is  of  its 
own  nature  light,  and  must  give  light,  whether  there  be 
an  eye  to  see  it  or  not,  and  the  heart  in  which  it  dwells 
must  be  full  of  light — of  joy,  and  peace,  and  love,  and 
hope,  just  so  far  as  its  piety  has  advanced  from  infancy 
towards  maturity  in  Christ. 

The  light  in  that  heart  must  be  a  shining  light ;  shining 
not  merely  in  its  own  chamber  where  dwell  the  Christian's 
affections,  and  joys,  and  tempers,  and  principles ;  but  out- 
wardly, through  all  the  issues  of  that  heart,  in  the  life ; 
shedding  around  it  the  radiance  of  truth,  and  purity,  and 
loving  kindness,  and  gentleness,  and  love  ;  thus  attracting 
the  regards  of  men  and  leading  their  thoughts  above  to 
him  whose  light  it  is.  So  strongly  do  the  scriptures 
insist  on  the  essential  connection  between  a  Christian 
heart  and  a  shining  light,  that  they  make  true  Christians 
identical  with  light.  " Ye  ivere  sometime  darkness"  said 
St.  Paul.  Mark  the  expression  !  In  their  unconverted 
state,  they  had  been  darkness  itself,  not  merely  walking 
in  darkness,  but  identical  with  it.  "  But  now  are  ye  light 
in  the  Lord;"  not  only  bearers  of  the  light,  as  a  candle- 
stick bears  the  candle  burning  in  its  socket,  but  so  pene- 
trated with  the  radiance  of  a  true  godliness,  so  transformed 
by  the  grace  of  God  into  his  own  likeness,  so  identified 


328  SERMON   XV. 

with  Christ,  who  is  "  the  true  light,"  that  "  now  ye  are 
light;"  but  yet  only  "in  the  Lord" 

Thus  the  inseparable  connection  between  the  Christian's 
faith  and  a  shining  light.  How  beautifully  was  this  exhib- 
ited in  the  prison  at  Phillippi !  Paul  and  Silas,  with  their 
feet  fast  in  the  stocks,  and  their  limbs  in  chains,  and  the 
midnight  around  them,  and  all  the  other  inhabitants  of 
the  prison  locked  in  sleep,  but  they  themselves  too  full  of 
the  praises  of  God  to  sleep — how  were  they  "light  in  the 
Lord ;"  how  luminous  became  their  very  bonds ;  how  full 
of  joy  was  that  midnight  dungeon.  Shining  lights  in- 
deed !  but  where  was  the  eye  to  see,  or  who  in  that  solitude 
could  be  profited?  God  provided.  Did  he  send  the 
light,  and  would  he  not  send  the  eye  to  see  thereby  ?  An 
earthquake  shook  the  walls,  unbarred  the  doors,  loosed 
every  man's  bonds,  awoke  the  jailor  and  his  prisoners — 
provided  thus  the  witnesses  and  the  hearers.  The  jailor 
owned  the  hand  of  God ;  his  heart  was  opened  to  the 
Gospel  at  the  mouth  of  its  faithful  preachers,  and  with 
all  his  house  he  believed  and  was  baptized.  What  is  the 
lesson  ?  Why,  that  no  troublous  circumstances  can  ex- 
cuse, or  need  ever  prevent  us,  from  the  manifestation  in 
life  of  what  it  is  in  heart  to  be  a  Christian ;  that  no  con- 
dition is  so  out  of  sight  but  that  we  may  glorify  God 
therein  and  promote  the  spiritual  good  of  men ;  that 
affliction,  persecution,  hatred,  enmity,  though  intended  for 
our  destruction,  may  easily  become,  under  God's  provi- 
dence, the  very  reflecting  surface  by  which  our  light  will 
be  multiplied  and  our  usefulness  extended. 

"No  man  liveth  unto  himself"  alone.     He  cannot,  if  he 
would.     The  man  who,   through   sinful   disobedience  to 


THE  BELIEVER'S  PROGRESSIVE  LIFE  IN  CHRIST.       329 

God,  is  only  darkness,  cannot  keep  his  darkness  to  him- 
self. His  shadow  will  darken  others.  The  same  is  true 
of  the  children  of  light.  The  residence  may  be  a  hovel, 
the  tenant  a  poor  beggared  cripple,  full  of  suffering,  almost 
speechless.  But  is  he  alive  unto  God  ?  Has  he  the  love 
of  God  shed  abroad  in  his  heart?  Is  he  sweetly  sub- 
missive to  the  will  under  which  he  suffers,  abounding  in 
thankfulness  and  praise,  counting  all  his  affliction  light 
and  but  for  a  moment,  in  view  of  the  eternal  weight  of 
glory  for  which,  under  divine  grace,  he  knows  it  is  prepar- 
ing him?  He  is  God's  own  son,  adopted  in  Jesus  Christ. 
He  is  an  "heir  of  God  and  a  joint  heir  with  Christ."  A 
crown  of  glory  is  awaiting  him  in  heaven.  Why,  then,  is 
he  kept  here  thus  to  suffer  ?  Why  doth  not  his  Heavenly 
Father  receive  him  unto  himself?  He  is  "a  shining  light" 
He  is  continued  here  that  men  may  see  and  glorify  his 
Father  who  is  in  heaven.  Yea,  but  how  many  will  ever 
see  that  poor  hovel  and  that  humble  inhabitant?  God 
will  provide.  He  who  hath  set  so  beautiful  a  light  in  so 
humble  a  candlestick,  will  not  permit  it  to  shine  unseen 
of  men.  A  thousand  ways  he  hath  of  making  it  known. 
That  suffering  child  of  God  in  his  hovel  may  do  more  for 
the  salvation  of  others  by  his  patient,  thankful,  loving 
sufferings,  and  by  his  few  words  for  Christ,  than  a  hundred 
Christians  of  inferior  piety.  His  one  talent  of  meek,  and 
lowly,  and  thankful  acquiescence  in  the  painful  will  of  God, 
will  gain  ten  talents  to  his  Saviour's  treasury.  How 
strikingly  does  the  well-known  tract  of  the  Dairyman's 
Daughter, exemplify  this !  How  obscure  the  rustfc  neigh- 
borhood in  which  her  path  lay.  How  secluded  and  hum- 
ble the  cottage  she  lived  in,  and  the  little  upper  chamber 


330  SERMON   XV. 

she  died  in.  How  entirely  out  of  sight  had  been  her 
pious  life ;  how  unknown,  save  to  two  or  three,  was  the 
lovely  Christian  grace  that  adorned  her  death.  She  was 
dear,  indeed,  very  dear,  to  her  Saviour  ;  and  sweetly  did 
he  shine  upon  her  path  as  she  went  through  the  shadow  of 
death.  How  little  did  she  imagine  that  ever  mortal  ears, 
beyond  that  little  neighborhood,  would  hear  her  name. 
And  little  did  her  affectionate  pastor  imagine,  when  wri- 
ting that  simple,  touching  narrative  of  her  life  and  death 
in  Christ,  what  God  would  do  by  that  tract.  God's 
thoughts  are  not  our  thoughts.  "Thus  saith  the  Lord, 
The  heaven  is  my  throne  and  the  earth  is  my  foot- 
stool ;  where  is  the  house  that  ye  build  unto  me?"  "  To 
this  man  will  I  look,  even  to  him  that  is  poor  and 
of  a  contrite  spirit,  and  trembleth  at  my  word."  God 
looked  much  more  to  that  temple  of  his  grace,  that  con- 
trite daughter  in  her  poverty  of  goods  and  poverty  of 
spirit,  as  the  manifestation  of  his  glory,  than  to  all  our 
temples  made  with  hands.  What  book  of  great  learning 
and  strong  argument  for  the  truth,  has  been  honored  in- 
the  conversion  of  sinners  to  Christ,  as  the  light  of  the 
example  of  that  child  of  God,  set  in  that  simple  narra- 
tive ?  What  minister  has  been  the  instrument,  by  his 
public  labors,  in  the  turning  of  so  many  to  righteousness, 
as  that  narrative  of  "The  Dairyman's  Daughter,"  trans- 
lated, as  it  has  been,  into  various  languages,  read  in  pal- 
aces and  cottages,  loved  among  the  noble  and  the  poor, 
gathering  fruit  in  the  households  of  princes  ?  A  shining 
light !  Not  long  ago  a  missionary  in  Asia  Minjr,  amidst 
barbarism  and  the  utmost  spiritual  darkness,  found  a  little 
fellowship  of  some  ten  or  twelve  persons  of  oriental 


THE  BELIEVER'S  PROGRESSIVE  LIFE  IN  CHRIST.        331 

speech,  who,  to  his  great  delight,  seemed  true  followers  of 
Christ,  acquainted  with  the  way  of  life.  It  was  not  long 
since  they  had  learned  it;  but  their  enlightening  and 
conversion  were  traced  to  a  copy  of  that  precious  narra- 
tive, which,  in  an  oriental  dress,  had  been  brought,  by  Di- 
vine Providence,  as  a  light  into  that  dark  land,  and  had 
thus  been  made  a  lamp  to  their  path. 

"  Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world,"  said  our  Lord  to  his 
people.  It  is  the  combination  of  such  faithful  manifesta- 
tions of  the  truth  and  grace  of  God,  in  Christ,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  teaching  of  the  word,  that  constitutes  the 
only  light  of  this  world.  Then  follows  the  Lord's  exhor- 
tation to  his  people  :  "  Let  your  light  so  shine  before  men, 
that  they  may  see  your  good  works  and  glorify  your 
Father  which  is  in  heaven."  Mark  the  words :  "  Let  your 
light  so  shine  before  men,"  &c.  It  will  shine,  whether 
seen  or  not.  But  it  may  shine  as  a  candle  hid  under  a 
bushel,  or  as  a  candle  set  on  a  candlestick  and  giving 
light  in  all  the  house.  Let  it  so  shine  as  to  be  manifest, 
diffusive,  invasive  of  the  place  of  darkness.  So  seek  and 
cherish  the  sanctifying  influences  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
upon  your  affections,  tempers,  manners  and  ways  ;  so  cul- 
tivate a  spirit  of  active  love  and  of  out-going  benevolence, 
according  to  the  mind  of  Christ,  that  the  genuine  effect 
of  the  Gospel  on  its  true  disciples,  to  purify  their  affec- 
tions, and  exalt  their  whole  character,  to  promote  their 
purest  happiness,  and  make  them  blessings  among  their 
fellow  creatures,  may  be  known  and  read  of  all  that 
know  you.  "  I  have  seen  (says  Bp.  Taylor,)  a  religion 
that  wholly  dwelt  upon  the  face  and  tongue  ;  that  like  a 
wanton  and  undressed  tree,  spends  all  its  juice  in  suckers 


332  SERMON  XV. 

and  irregular  branches,  in  leaves  and  gum  ;  and  after  all 
such  goodly  outsides,  you  should  never  eat  an  apple,  or 
be  delighted  with  the  beauties  or  the  perfumes  of  a  hopeful 
blossom." 

Let  your  light  so  shine,  not  ostentatiously,  as  if  it  were 
shining  on  yourself,  instead  of  from  yourself;  as  if  it  in- 
vited attention  to  your  praises,  instead  of  the  praises  of 
him  in  whose  grace  you  live;  but  still  not  indistinctly, 
but  positively  and  boldly  —  so  that  men  seeing  your  good 
works,  (for  it  is  good  works  which  must  furnish  the  reflec- 
tors and  manifestations  of  the  light  of  God  in  your  heart,) 
they  may  glorify  (not  you,  for  you  must  stand  behind 
your  works,  as  the  body  of  the  sun  stands  behind  its 
light,  invisible  while  it  makes  all  things  visible,  but)  "  your 
Father  which  is  in  heaven"  who  is  your  light,  and  joy,  and 
glory,  and  before  whom,  as  the  seraphim  veiling  their 
faces  and  their  feet,  while  they  praise  him,  you,  as  his  true 
children  and  grateful  receivers  of  his  glory,  will  delight  to 
stand  concealed  in  the  shadow  of  your  good  works ;  like 
a  fair  taper  which  shines  to  all  the  room,  but  casts  a 
shadow  around  itself.* 

He  that  would  be  thus  a  shining  light,  so  glorifying 
God  in  the  sight  of  men,  must  live  very  near  to  God, 


*  I  cannot  refrain  from  quoting  here  that  beautiful  passage  of  Bp.  Taylor's 
sermon  at  the  funeral  of  the  Countess  of  Carbery,  from  which  the  above  figure 
is  taken :  "  Like  a  fair  taper,  -when  she  shined  to  all  the  room,  yet  round 
about  her  own  station  she  cast  a  shadow  and  a  cloud,  and  she  shined  to  every 
body  but  herself.  But  the  perfectness  of  her  prudence  and  excellent  parts 
could  not  be  hid;  and  all  her  humility  and  arts  of  concealment,  made  the  vir- 
tues more  amiable  and  illustrious.  For  as  pride  sullies  the  beauty  of  the 
fairest  virtues,  so  humility  is  the  greatest  eminency  and  art  of  publication  in 
the  whole  world;  and  she  in  all  her  arts  of  secrecy  and  hiding  her  worthy 
things,  was  but  like  one  that  hideth  the  wind,  and  covers  the  ointment 
of  her  right  hand." 


THE  BELIEVER'S  PROGRESSIVE  LIFE  IN  CHRIST.        333 

dwelling  constantly  in  his  light,  as  the  moon,  so  dark  in 
itself,  keeps  up  its  constant  contributions  to  the  earth 
only  by  a  constant  walk  in  the  radiance  of  the  sun. 
Your  life  must  be  that  inner  life  which  is  "  hid  with  Christ 
in  God." 

II.  But  the  Christian  in  his  habitual  walk  is  compared 
not  only  to  the  shining,  but  to  the  advancing  and  increas- 
ing light — the  shining  light  "which  shineth  more  and 


more" 


Thus  is  declared,  the  progressive  nature,  the  ascending 
progress,  the  increasing  strength  and  usefulness  of  true 
religion  in  the  heart. 

At  its  beginning,  at  its  birth  out  of  the  darkness  of 
our  natural  state  of  alienation  from  God  and  insensibility 
to  heavenly  things,  with  all  the  delusions  of  such  a 
condition,  it  is  like  "  the  morning  light ;"  "  morning  spread 
upon  the  mountains"  and  not  yet  reaching  the  valleys; 
morning  spread  as  a  vesture  of  many  colors  upon  the 
headlands,  gradually  extending  to  the  lowlands  and  losing 
its  coloring,  as  it  advances,  in  the  pure  white  light  of  the 
maturer  day.  Then  there  is  often  a  mistiness  remaining 
when  the  darkness  is  passed  away.  The  features  of  the 
landscape  are  indistinct.  The  dividing  lines  of  hill  and 
vale,  of  land  and  sea,  are  invisible.  Things  appear  out  of 
shape  and  proportion.  Some  leading  heights  are  beauti- 
fully revealed;  others,  less  prominent,  are  yet  in  the 
shadow ;  while  on  much  of  the  landscape  there  is  an  uncer- 
tainty over  which  imagination  may  play  without  guide 
or  limit.  Such  is  the  beginning  of  the  day  of  grace  in 
the  sinner's  soul.  A  long,  dark  night  has  been  upon 
him.  The  Sun  of  Righteousness  hath  risen  and  is  chas- 


334  SERMON  xv. 

ing  the  night  away.  Bat  it  is  early  morning  yet — only  a 
feeble  dawn.  His  views  are  very  obscure.  The  sight  of 
the  depths  of  his  own  sinful  nature,  of  his  many  and  great 
necessities,  and  of  his  relations  to  God  and  his  Saviour; 
his  knowledge  of  the  temptations  and  dangers  of  his 
path,  and  of  the  need  of  watchfulness,  and  how  easily 
he  may  be  deluded  and  overcome,  all  is  very  confused. 
The  day  has  begun ;  he  is  born  again ;  he  has  become 
truly  a  child  of  the  light  and  of  the  day;  he  knows 
enough  of  his  sinfulness  to  repent  of  it,  and  to  be  hum- 
bled before  God  on  account  of  it ;  he  knows  enough  of 
the  Saviour  to  flee  to  him  and  love  him ;  he  knows  enough 
of  holiness  to  hunger  after  it,  and  of  the  "hope  that  mak- 
eth  not  ashamed  "  to  rejoice  in  it;  he  is  a  new  creature 
in  Christ  Jesus,  but  a  new  creature  at  the  dawn  of  life ; 
amidst  clouds,  and  shadows,  and  uncertainties,  and  obscuri- 
ties, as  we  may  suppose  the  new-created  earth  to  have 
been,  when  there  was  upon  it  only  the  light  that  sufficed 
to  divide  the  day  from  the  night,  and  to  manifest  in  gene- 
ral the  hand  of  God  all  around,  and  while  as  yet  the  great 
lights  in  the  firmament  had  not  been  made.  How  much 
has  he  to  learn  of  himself;  of  the  world  in  its  dangerous 
influences  upon  a  heart  striving  to  be  the  Lord's;  of  the 
preciousness  of  the  love  and  peace  of  God  in  Christ;  of 
a  life  of  faith,  in  its  contests,  its  trials,  its  encouragements, 
its  victories!  Some  points  of  Christian  character  are 
beautifully  brought  out.  Others  lie  in  a  great  degree  un- 
developed. There  is  often  a  want  of  proportion  of  parts, 
and  symmetry  of  stature,which  impairs  strength  and  causes 
unsteadiness.  Self-knowledge  is  feeble;  self-confidence 
is  strong.  Feelings  are  too  much  mistaken  for  affections. 


THE  BELIEVER'S  PROGRESSIVE  LIFE  IN  CHRIST.         335 

Impulse  is  too  often  the  substitute  for  permanent  princi- 
ple. Mere  sensibilities  of  nature  appear  as  precious 
fruits  of  the  Spirit.  A  lively  and  ardent  imagination 
takes  the  name  of  spirituality  of  mind.  Angels  of  light 
are  made  out  of  apparitions  to  which  the  remaining  dark- 
ness of  nature  gives  birth.  It  is  only  the  dawn  of  day. 
But  it  is  the  day.  God  has  shined  into  the  heart,  and 
already  is  he  glorified  in  that  beginning  of  his  work  of 
grace. 

If  the  subsequent  and  more  mature  state  of  Christian 
character  be  more  calculated,  on  many  accounts,  to  show 
forth  the  praises  of  him  who  calls  us  out  of  darkness  into 
his  marvellous  light;  there  are  features  peculiar  to  the 
first  life  of  God's  children,  which,  in  their  own  way, 
but  most  beautifully,  exhibit  his  hand.  Glorious  in- 
deed is  the  natural  day  now  well  advanced,  as  it  rises 
towards  its  noon.  There  is  nothing  hid  from  the  light 
thereof.  The  heavens  then,  most  eminently  declare  the 
glory  of  God.  But  the  morning  has  its  own  peculiar  song 
of  praise,  and  sweetly  does  it  tell  of  Him  that  created  it, 
as  the  sun  "cometh  forth  like  a  bridegroom  out  of  his 
chamber."  So  is  it  also  in  the  work  of  grace.  Glorious, 
beyond  comparison,  will  be  that  perfect  day  of  Christian 
life,  when  every  sin  shall  be  banished,  and  every  infirmity 
removed,  and  every  grace  matured,  and  the  image  of  God 
in  man  shall  be  as  perfect  a  reflection  of  his  own  perfec- 
tions as  created  mind  is  capable  of.  Every  step  of  ad- 
vancement in  the  Christian  toward  that  maturity  of  stature, 
is  a  further  step  in  the  praise  of  him  who,  being  the 
Author,  is  also  the  Finisher,  of  our  faith.  But  eminently 
does  the  'beginning  of  the  Christian  life  glorify  God.  It 


336  SERMON   XV. 

is  not  life  increasing  upon  life,  but  arising  out  of  death. 
It  is  not  light  advancing  upon  light,  but  beginning  out  of 
darkness.  It  is  not  the  new  creation  putting  on  one 
additional  beauty  after  another,  but  standing  in  all  its  new- 
ness, in  the  dew  of  its  birth,  a  striking  contrast  to  the 
chaos  from  which  it  has  just  come  forth.  The  ransomed 
spirits  made  perfect  in  heaven,  have  their  own  song  of 
praise,  "  Unto  him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our 
sins  in  his  own  blood,  and  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests 
unto  God."  The  ransomed  sinner  on  earth  just  come  out 
of  the  bondage  and  death  of  sin,  hath  his  song  also: 
"Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
which,  according  to  his  abundant  mercy,  hath  begotten  us 
again  unto  a  lively  hope — to  an  inheritance  incorruptible, 
undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away." 

But  the  path  of  the  Christian  is  as  the  shining  light  of 
day,  not  only  in  its  beginning  at  early  dawn,  but  as  it 
shineth  "  more  and  more"  That  light  is  never  stationary. 
Upward  it  ascends  till  it  attains  meridian.  Brighter  and 
brighter  it  becomes  till  the  day  is  perfect.  Clouds  may 
obscure  it.  Storms  may  trouble  it.  Its  increase  may 
not  be  visible  each  hour.  It  may  seem  more  obscure 
when  near  its  zenith  than  when  just  emerged  from  the 
mists  of  the  mountains ;  but  gradually,  silently,  it  rises 
to  the  perfect  day.  The  shadows  diminish  till  they  cease. 
The  changing,  varied,  beauties  of  the  morning  are  gradu- 
ally exchanged  for  the  finished  glory  of  the  unclouded 
noon.  So  does  true  religion  grow  in  the  heart  and  life. 
Such  is  the  growth  in  grace  which  we  are  required  to  make, 
day  by  day;  such  the  growth  which  it  is  of  the  essential 
nature  of  a  new  heart  to  desire  to  make,  and  which  we 


THE  BELIEVER'S  PROGRESSIVE  LIFE  IN  CHRIST.       337 

must  make  if  we  would  enjoy  a  present  evidence  that  we 
have  been  begotten  again,  and  are  the  living  children  of 
God.     In  that  progress,  the  Christian  becomes  more  pure 
in  heart,  more  humble  in  spirit,  more  elevated  in  his  affec- 
tions, less  selfish  in  his  aims,  and  more  benevolent  towards 
others.     He  gets  nearer  to  Christ,  and  manifests  more  of 
his  mind.     He  increases  in  the  knowledge  of  himself,  of 
his  sinfulness,  his  dependence  and  necessities.     He  knows 
more  of  the  trials,  and  more  of  the  consolations,  of  a  faith- 
ful disciple.     His  walk  is  more  steady  and  consistent. 
The  love  of  Christ  reigns  in  him,  with  a  more  habitual 
and  constraining  power.     Faith  in  Christ,  working  by  love, 
becomes  more  simple,  and  child-like,  and  firm,  in  its  lean- 
ing on  the  promises ;  more  courageous  in  undertaking  try- 
ing duties;  more  successful  in  overcoming  the  world;  more 
patient  to  run  the  race  set  before  it ;  more  diligent  for  the 
prize  of  its  high  calling.    The  whole  example  is  more  lovely; 
the  whole  spirit  more  pure;    the  whole  man  more  and 
more  transformed,  by  the  renewing  of  his  mind.     That 
undue  sway  of  mere  sentiment  or  imagination,  which  the 
new-born  Christian  so  often  exhibits,  passes  away  before 
the  steady  increase  of  settled  principles,  established  in  the 
word  of  God.     Changing  frames  of  feeling,   sometimes 
vigorous,  sometimes  lifeless,  are  exchanged  for  the  better 
mastery   of  heart-seated   affections,    implanted    by  the 
Spirit  and  nourished  at  the  fountain  of  inexhaustible  grace. 
There  is  less  dependence  on  excitement,  with  less  fickle- 
ness of  spirit ;  there  is  more  quietness  with  more  continu- 
ance of  an  earnest  spirit.     Depressions  of  mind  are  less 
frequent;  serene  reliance  on  the  promises  is  more  con- 
stant.    "Patient  continuance  in  well  doing,"  is  more  and 
22 


338  SERMON  XV. 

more  the  tenor  of  his  way.  The  shallow  brook,  now 
scarcely  finding  its  narrow  and  often  unseen  way,  now 
swollen  by  sudden  rain,  till  it  overflows  its  banks  and 
goes  on  its  noisy  course,  soon  to  be  reduced  again  to  fee- 
bleness and  obscurity,  is  too  often  the  type  of  religious 
character  recently  begun.  The  deep,  full  river,  fed  by 
unfailing  springs,  never  overflowing,  never  shallow,  silently 
advancing  its  tribute  of  waters  to  the  ocean,  is  the  better 
type  of  a  better  state.  Let  me  use  the  eloquence  of 
Bishop  Taylor  here.  Describing  exactly  what  I  aim  at, 
he  said  of  a  devout  lady  whose  funeral  sermon  he  was 
preaching :  "  In  all  her  religion,  and  in  all  her  actions  of 
relation  towards  God,  she  had  a  strange  evenness  and  un- 
troubled passage,  sliding  toward  her  ocean  of  God  and  of 
infinity,  with  a  certain  and  silent  motion.  So  have  I  seen 
a  river,  deep  and  smooth,  passing  with  a  still  foot  and  a 
sober  face,  and  paying  to  the  great  exchequer  of  the  sea, 
a  tribute  large  and  full;  and  hard  by  it,  a  little  brook 
skipping  and  making  a  noise  upon  its  uneven  and  narrow 
bottom ;  and  after  all  its  talking  and  bragged  motion,  it 
paid  to  its  common  audit,  no  more  than  the  revenues  of 
a  little  cloud.  So  have  I  sometimes  compared  the  issues 
of  her  religion  to  the  solemnities  and  famed  outsides  of 
another's  piety."* 

My  dear  brethren,  I  cannot  too  earnestly  beseech  you 
to  remember  the  essentially  progressive  nature  of  true 
religion  in  the  heart.  "  Grow  in  grace"  is  the  require- 
ment of  our  Lord,  inscribed  over  the  very  birth-place  of 
the  child  of  God.  "Forgetting  those  things  that  are  behind, 
and  reaching  forth  unto  those  things  which  are  before,"  is 

*  Sermon  at  the  Funeral  of  the  Countess  of  Carberj. 


THE  BELIEVER'S  PROGRESSIVE  LIFE  IN  CHRIST,       339 

the  motto  of  the  Christian  life.  "  Blessed  are  they  that  do 
hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness,  for  they  shall  be 
filled;"  they  that  hunger  and  thirst  for  more  and  more,  no 
matter  what  the  attainment  already :  such,  in  the  form 
of  a  benediction,  is  our  Lord's  expression  for  the  aspiring 
spirit  of  a  heart  alive  unto  righteousness.  The  fruitful 
branch  bringing  forth  much  fruit,  and  pruned,  and  trained, 
and  stretching  forth  its  arms,  and  searching  the  soil  with 
its  extending  roots,  that  it  may  bring  forth  more  fruit ; 
such  is  our  Lord's  chosen  image  to  set  forth  his  true  and 
faithful  disciple  growing  in  grace.  His  path  is  as  the 
shining  light  that  goes  on  to  shine  more  and  more.  Unlike 
that  of  the  morning,  ascending  toward  meridian  and  never 
going  backward,  it  may  have  its  periods  of  decline.  Some- 
times, like  the  day  in  its  progress,  it  may  seem  to  decline, 
when  it  is  only  that  its  sensible  consolations  are  less, 
while  its  inward  life  is  strengthening.  Clouds  are  upon 
the  face  of  its  joys,  while  the  light  beyond  is  in  full  com- 
munion with  him  who  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day  and 
forever.  It  is  not  necessary  to  real  growth,  that  you 
shall  be  able  to  discern  your  progress  from  day  to  day; 
any  more  than  you  may  expect  to  measure  the  ascent  of 
the  sun  from  moment  to  moment.  But  from  hour  to 
hour,  the  movement  of  the  shadow,  contracting  more  and 
more,  does  show  the  steady  increase  of  the  day.  So, 
when  you  take  some  prominent  besetment  of  your  evil 
nature  to  measure  by,  you  will  see,  from  time  to  time, 
that  its  shadow  is  less  and  less  as  your  path  advances  to- 
wards the  perfect  day  of  your  hope  and  holiness. 

There  is  a  shining  light  in  earthly  things,  of  which  it 
cannot  be  said  that  it  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the 


340  SERMON  XV. 

perfect  day- — an  Aurora,  but  not  that  which  increases 
till  it  ends  in  the  greater  glory.  Often  it  flashes  out  its 
fitful  streams  of  radiance,  so  that  the  benighted  traveller 
is  made  to  hope  the  morning  breaks,  while  it  is  yet  un- 
broken night.  It  is  fickle  and  uncertain,  stays  where  it 
begins,  brings  no  vital  warmth,  quickens  no  powers  of 
life,  affords  no  guidance,  and  dies  away  in  the  perfect 
night.  So  is  there  a  counterfeit  of  God's  true  grace  in 
the  sinner's  heart,  which  often  in  outward  appearance 
much  resembles  it ;  exceeds  it  often  in  the  pretensions 
and  manifestations  of  its  early  existence;  puts  out  bolder 
efforts,  shoots  out  hither  and  thither  with  greater  activity, 
draws  the  admiration  of  many,  and  puts  out  of  counte- 
nance the  steady,  modest,  and  often  unseen  working  of 
true  piety ;  but  it  is  all  excitement  and  impulse.  Its  life 
is  in  itself.  It  knows  nothing  of  "patient  continuance" 
It  has  no  growth.  Where  it  began,  it  ends  its  race.  Its 
brightest  hour  is  at  its  dawn.  Such  religion  proceeds  not 
from  the  fountain  of  life  in  Christ,  and  therefore  can 
never  rise  to  him  or  above  the  world.  He  that  guides  his 
path  by  its  example  will  be  confounded.  He  that  takes 
his  knowledge  of  religion  from  such  stimulated  growths, 
where  the  life  is  excitement,  and  the  strength  to  abide  de- 
pends on  excitement  more  and  more,  will  be  brought  under 
a  delusion  by  which  many  have  been  led  into  greater 
darkness.  Measure  the  reality  of  your  religion  by  its 
earnestness  to  grow,  its  consciousness  of  present  great 
deficiency,  its  hungering  and  thirsting  after  more  of  all 
that  belongs  to  the  likeness  of  God,  and  of  all  that  his 
scriptures  set  before  you  to  seek.  Religion  that  is  born  at 
its  maturity,  and  the  progress  of  which  is  only  to  get  more 


THE  BELIEVER'S  PROGRESSIVE  LIFE  IN  CHRIST.        341 

infirm  and  less  animated,  but  not  more  deep-seated  and  con- 
trolling, is  very  like  the  piety  of  a  man  who  was  much  with 
St.  Paul  in  a  part  of  his  ministry,  but  of  whom  he  wrote 
by  and  by — "  Demas  hath  forsaken  me,  having  loved  this 
present  world." 

III.  But  there  is  a  perfect  day  to  every  dawn  of 
morning.  "  He  that  hath  begun  a  good  work  in  you, 
will  perform  it  unto  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ."*  "  It 
doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be;  but  this  we 
know,  that  when  he  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  him,  for 
we  shall  see  him  as  he  is."  "  I  will  come  again,  (said  the 
Sun  of  Righteousness)  and  receive  you  unto  myself,  that 
where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also."  That  will  be  the 
perfect  day  of  the  disciple  of  Christ,  for  which  all  his 
growth  in  grace  is  preparation;  towards  which  every  step 
of  growth  is  advancement;  of  which  every  present  gift  of 
grace  is  "the  earnest  of  the  Spirit,"  in  which  the  present 
beginnings  of  grace  as  naturally  terminate,  as  infancy 
ripens  into  manhood;  and  the  brightness  and  blessedness 
of  which  we  can  now  conceive  of  no  more  than  the  glory 
of  the  noontide  sun  could  be  anticipated,  had  you 
never  seen  but  the  first  streaks  of  the  morning,  tipping 
with  gold  the  tops  of  the  mountains.  I  know  not  any 
higher  idea  of  the  perfect  day  of  the  Christian's  light  and 
blessedness,  when  his  every  hope  will  be  fulfilled,  and  all 
the  promises  accomplished,  than  that  glorious  day  of  Christ, 
when  he  shall  receive  his  people  to  himself,  and  they  shall 
be  with  him  where  he  is,  and  thus  inhabit  eternal  glory,  in 
the  fullness  of  his  glory;  made  like  him,  perfectly;  see- 
ing him,  knowing  him,  communing  with  him,  without  a 

*Phil.  i.  6. 


342  SERMON   XV. 

cloud  or  a  barrier,  in  the  nearness  of  a  perfect  union. 
"Then  shall  they  shine  forth  as  the  sun,  in  the  kingdom 
of  their  Father."  The  perfectness  of  their  day  will  be  in 
the  perfectness  of  their  own  attainments  in  holiness. 
God's  work  will  be  completed  in  them.  His  image  will 
be  perfectly  renewed  upon  them.  Their  sanctification 
will  have  ripened  into  a  finished  redemption,  from  all  the 
bonds,  and  all  the  pollutions  and  infirmities  of  this  fallen 
state.  Their  day  will  be  perfected  in  the  complete  pre- 
cipitation of  all  the  vapors,  and  in  the  complete  extinc- 
tion of  all  the  darkness,  of  this  mortal  state.  What 
light,  what  revelation,  will  then  be  poured  upon  all  things ; 
on  all  the  history  of  the  providence  of  God  towards  this 
world,  and  towards  each  of  his  people ;  on  all  the  doings  of 
his  grace  towards  every  sinner;  his  holiness,  his  justice, 
his  goodness,  his  long-suffering  and  his  amazing  love,  in 
all  their  connections  with  man.  What  light  around  the 
cross!  When  Jesus  manifested  himself  to  Saul  for  his 
conversion,  there  was  a  light  seen  shining  round  about 
him,  "above  the  brightness  of  the  sun;"  and  then  the 
sun  was  at  high  noon.  What  light,  then,  will  that  be, 
surrounding  "the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb,"  when 
the  day  shall  come,  of  which  that  manifestation  to  Saul 
was  but  a  momentary  glimpse;  when  all  his  people  shall 
"  see  him  as  he  is,"  in  the  glory  which  he  had  with  the 
Father,  before  the  world  was!  "The  city  had  no  need 
(said  St.  John  in  his  vision  of  that  heavenly  bliss)  of  the 
sun  to  shine  upon  it;  for  the  glory  of  God  did  lighten  it, 
and  the  Lamb  is  the  light  thereof."  Had  no  need!  Does 
the  mid-day  need  a  candle  ?  Can  you  see  the  stars  when 
the  sun  is  high  ?  How  all  present  conceptions  of  that 


THE  BELIEVER'S  PROGRESSIVE  LIFE  IN  CHRIST.       343 

day  of  glory  will  be  lost  in  those  revelations  of  God  and 
of  Christ,  to  which  our  present  views  are  but  as  the  dawn 
of  thought  in  the  mind  of  infancy. 

But  there  is  a  great  difference  between  the  path  of  the 
Christian,  going  on  to  his  reception  into  the  glory  of  his 
God  and  Saviour,  and  the  shining  light  increasing  unto 
the  perfect  day.  In  the  latter,  there  is  so  constant  and 
gradual  an  increase  unto  the  final  consummation,  that 
many  of  the  last  steps  are  not  discernible  from  the  ter- 
minating perfection.  But  the  Christian's  highest  attain- 
ment, during  the  days  of  his  growth  in  grace — how  does 
it  compare  with  the  perfect  day  on  which  it  joins?  What 
is  the  holiness  of  the  most  eminent  saint  on  earth,  to  the 
sanctification  he  will  receive,  when,  at  his  passage  to  the 
inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light,  God  will  complete  his 
meetness  to  be  a  partaker  therein !  We  must  see  through 
a  glass  darkly,  down  to  the  very  moment  of  our  transla- 
tion ;  and  then,  all  at  once,  we  shall  see,  "  face  to  face," 
the  glory  of  God,  and  the  wonders  of  his  kingdom.  We 
must  "  think  as  a  child,  and  understand  as  a  child,"  down 
to  the  very  moment  of  the  time  of  our  reception  to  be  with 
Christ;  and  then,  all  at  once,  we  are  to  put  away  childish 
things,  and  appear  in  the  full  stature,  and  think  and 
understand  with  all  the  vigor  of  the  most  perfect  man- 
hood. What  mysterious  doings  of  grace — what  marvel- 
lous operations  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  must  take  place  in 
the  soul  of  the  dying  believer,  after  you  have  heard  his  last 
word,  and  caught  his  last  look,  and  received  his  last  be- 
queathed evidence  that  he  dies  in  the  Lord;  and  before 
he  joins  the  hosts  in  light,  and  meets,  face  to  face,  the 
God  of  glory,  and  begins  his  eternal  day  in  the  presence 


344  SERMON  XV. 

of  the  Lamb — oh !  what  a  change,  to  make  him  capable  of 
sustaining  that  wondrous  vision,  and  meet  to  enter  upon 
that  inheritance !  But  that  good  work  which  marvellous 
grace  began,  the  God  of  all  grace  will  make  perfect  in 
that  day. 

And  now,  in  conclusion,  a  few  reflections  derived  from 
the  view  we  have  taken. 

1st.  We  see  what  the  heavenly  state  will  be,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Christian  life  on  earth.  It  is  another  life, 
and  yet  not  another — the  same  life  as  that  which  dwells 
in  the  heart,  and  issues  in  the  walk  of  the  child  of  God 
during  his  present  imperfectness;  but  now  under  a  new 
dispensation,  in  another  clime,  under  a  brighter  sky;  as 
the  perfect  day,  when  the  earth  is  filled  with  light,  is  the 
same  day  as  when  the  first  hours  were  struggling  with 
the  mists  of  morning.  The  religion  of  heaven  is  the  re- 
ligion of  believers  on  earth;  but  with  both  its  robes,  its 
sanctification  as  well  as  justification,  made  perfectly  white 
in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  The  happiness  of  heaven  is 
just  the  happiness  of  the  believer  on  earth,  only  with  all 
its  impurities  precipitated,  all  its  feebleness  removed,  all 
its  dimness  of  vision  done  away — the  little  stream  won- 
derfully enlarged,  but  proceeding,  as  ever,  out  of  its  hid- 
den source  "  with  Christ  in  God ;"  the  hope  of  the  inherit- 
ance superseded  by  the  possession  of  the  inheritance ;  the 
priest  who  worshipped  outside  the  vail,  in  types  and  shad- 
ows, now  standing  in  the  most  holy  place,  directly  before 
the  throne.  Grace  is  the  dawn  of  glory — glory  is  the 
fullness  of  grace.  Happiness  in  heaven  is  holiness  made 
perfect  in  the  communion  of  God.  How  vain,  therefore, 
for  a  man  to  be  hoping  for  heaven  when  he  dies,  in  whom 


THE  BELIEVER'S  PROGRESSIVE  LIFE  IN  CHRIST.       345 

the  seed-life  of  heaven  is  not  now  begun  !  How  impossi- 
ble that  a  man  should  be  happy  in  heaven,  were  he  even 
taken  thither,  who  has  never  learned  to  partake  in  the 
happiness  of  religion,  before  being  taken  thither !  How 
can  we  ever  reign  in  the  life  of  glory,  if  we  have 
not  first  served  in  the  preparatory  life  of  grace  ?  Does 
morning  light  give  assurance  of  the  full  grown  day? 
Just  as  much  does  the  latter  tell  you  there  has  been  a 
dawn  of  day — -just  as  much  does  the  blessedness  of  every 
saint  in  heaven  testify  that  in  him  there  was  a  new 
birth,  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  wherein  the  new 
life  thus  consummated  above  was  begun  in  weakness  on 
the  earth. 

2d.  You  have  no  reason  to  be  discouraged  about  your 
state,  when,  at  the  outset  of  a  Christian  life,  you  feel  your 
attainments  in  grace  to  be  very  poor  and  feeble.  It  may 
be  "a  day  of  small  things,"  but  it  must  not  be  despised. 
The  perfect  day  was  once  but  a  streak  of  feeble  light, 
scarcely  visible  amidst  the  powers  of  darkness  with  which 
it  struggled  for  the  mastery.  Every  saint  now  in  heaven, 
rejoicing  in  all  the  maturity  of  his  life  in  Christ,  was  once 
where  you  are,  just  beginning  to  learn,  just  trying  to  creep, 
just  seeing  a  very  little,  with  a  very  tottering  faith,  and 
a  very  infant  hope.  The  hill  of  Zion  must  be  ascended 
from  the  bottom  of  the  valley ;  and  many  a  step  must  be 
taken,  without  seeming  to  ascend  at  all.  The  great  ques- 
tion is,  Has  the  day  begun,  and  is  it  striving,  in  the 
light  and  help  of  God,  to  increase  more  and  more  ?  In 
the  faithful  use  of  God's  ordained  means  of  grace,  by 
prayer,  by  watchfulness,  by  looking  unto  Jesus,  the 
Author  and  Finisher,  by  exercise  of  what  you  have,  by 


346  SERMON   XV. 

improvement  of  what  you  have  obtained,  you  will  go  on 
from  the  good  beginning  in  weakness,  to  the  blessed 
consummation  in  perfectness. 

3rd.  Ye  who  earnestly  desire  never  to  cease  advancing 
in  holiness,  till  you  are  made  perfect  in  heaven,  remember 
where  lies  the  power,  whence  cometh  the  light,  who  it  is 
that  is  "made  unto  us,  of  God,  sanctification  and  redemp- 
tion." "Ye  were  sometime  darkness;  but  now  are  ye 
light  in  the  Lord."  Mark,  it  is  "in  the  Lord."  Your 
standing  before  God,  as  his  people,  is  only  as  ye  are  "  in 
Christ  Jesus."  Your  increase  in  any  of  the  endowments, 
hopes,  or  happiness  of  his  people,  can  be  only  as  ye  are 
"in  Christ  Jesus."  All  your  life  is  there;  all  your 
hope  is  there ;  all  your  righteousness  is  there.  Growth 
in  grace,  is  simply  increased  likeness  to  Christ,  increased 
nearness  to  Christ,  increased  reliance  upon  Christ,  in- 
creased desire  after  him,  increased  drawing  by  faith  and 
prayer  upon  the  treasury  of  grace  in  him.  The  crescent 
moon,  all  dark  in  itself,  increases  to  its  fullness  of  light  as 
its  face  is  turned  to  the  sun.  "  Seek  ye  my  face,"  is  the 
exhortation.  May  the  answer  come  from  every  heart 
among  us,  "Thy  face,  Lord,  will  I  seek." 


SERMON  XVI. 


THE  BELIEVER'S  ASSURANCE  IN  CHRIST. 


ROMANS  viii.  32. 

"He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all;  how 
shall  he  not  with  him  also  freely  give  us  all  things  1 " 

THERE  are  two  principal  methods  by  which  the  believer 
may  comfort  his  soul  out  of  the  treasures  of  the  grace  of 
God.  One  is,  by  the  direct  application  to  his  own  spiritual 
state,  of  those  promises  of  the  scriptures  which  are  appro- 
priate thereto.  His  wants  cannot  be  so  various  but  the 
scriptures  furnish  promises  to  meet  them,  nor  so  great  and 
pressing  but  he  may  find  strength  and  consolation  enough 
in  those  promises  to  sustain  his  heart  in  peace.  And 
happy  he,  in  whom  "  the  word  of  God  dwells  richly,  in  all 
wisdom  and  spiritual  understanding,"  and  whose  heart  is 
habitually  exercised,  by  devout  meditation,  in  the  practi- 
cal use  and  personal  application  of  its  many  "words  in 
season."  That  man  is  always  ready — when  temptation 
assails,  to  stand  in  the  whole  armor  of  God ;  when  duty 
calls,  to  be  girt  about  with  truth,  for  its  longest  and  hardest 
path ;  when  tribulation  brings  its  darkness,  to  find  the 
lamp  that  will  light  up  his  tabernacle;  when  fears  come 
about  him,  to  give  to  each  of  them  a  reason  of  the  hope 
that  is  in  him;  and  when  his  Lord  cometh,  and  calleth  for 
him,  to  take  his  shining  lamp,  trimmed  and  burning,  and 
go  forth  to  meet  him. 


348  SEEMON  XVI. 

The  other  method  is,  by  calling  to  mind  what  God  has 
already  done  for  us;  especially  what  he  did  for  us  when 
we  were  enemies,  wandering  further  and  further  away  from 
him,  having  no  desire  for  his  love,  making  the  world  our 
God;  and  thence  arguing,  how  much  more  we  may  look 
for  his  compassion  and  grace,  now  that  we  have  tnrned  un- 
to him,  and  embraced  his  promises.  The  believer  remem- 
bers "the  rock  whence  he  was  hewn,  and  the  hole  of  the 
pit  whence  he  was  digged;"  he  considers  the  mercy  that 
plucked  him  "as  a  brand  from  the  burning;"  that  persua- 
ded and  enabled  him,  in  his  great  sinfulness  and  weak- 
ness, to  seek  refuge  for  his  lost  soul  in  the  righteousness 
of  Christ ;  that  put  a  new  song  into  his  mouth,  and  shed 
abroad  in  his  heart  the  love  and  peace  of  God.  And 
thence  he  argues  with  his  soul — He  that  so  pitied  me  and 
did  such  wonderful  things  for  me  when  I  loved  him  not, 
shall  I  not  trust  in  him  and  cast  every  care  upon  him,  now 
that  he  knows  that  I  love  him.  "Why  art  thou  cast  down, 
0  my  soul,  and  why  art  thou  so  disquieted  within  me? 
Hope  thou  in  God,  for  I  shall  yet  praise  him,  who  is 
the  help  of  my  countenance  and  my  God."  So  reasoned  St. 
Paul : "  If,  when  we  were  enemies,  we  were  reconciled  to 
God  by  the  death  of  his  Son,  much  more,  being  reconciled, 
we  shall  be  saved  by  his  life."  And  so  again,  in  the  text: 
"He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up 
for  us  all,  how  shall  he  not  with  him  also  freely  give  us 
all  things !" 

The  great  subject  of  the  text,  is  the  love  of  God  to  sinful 
and  ruinedman,  in  the  gift  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  to  be  a 
sacrifice  for  our  sins;  and  the  particular  topics  under  which 
the  text  leads  us  to  consider  that  love,  are,/r«s^,  the  Person 


THE  BELIEVER'S  ASSURANCE  IN  CHRIST.  349 

whom  God  spared  not;  secondly,  that  unto  which  he  was 
delivered  for  us  all;  and  thirdly,  the  comforting  inference 
thence  arising. 

I.  The  Person  whom  God  spared  not. 

He  " spared  not  his  own  Son"  These  words  are  in- 
tended to  impress  us  with  a  sense  of  the  dignity  and  pre- 
ciousness  of  him  whom  God  delivered  up  for  us  all,  and 
consequently  with  some  conception  of  the  cost  of  that 
great  sacrifice  for  our  sins.  The  inference,  "  how  shall  he 
not  with  him  also  freely  give  us  all  things  ? "  depends  en- 
tirely upon  the  sense  in  which  we  understand  Jesus  to  be 
called  God's  " own  Son"  If  you  give  this  title  only  an 
accommodated  meaning,  supposing  Jesus  to  be  entitled 
the  Son  of  God,  only  as  any  mere  man,  sustaining  a  cer- 
tain peculiar  relation  to  God,  might,  in  distinction  from 
other  men,  be  so  called,  without  implying  that  there  was 
literally  any  relation  of  nature  to  God  which  other  men 
had  not,  then  the  force  of  the  text  is  all  destroyed.  For 
when  I  have  said  to  myself,  "He  that  spared  not  that 
man  on  whom  he  hath  conferred  the  adoption  of  a  Son, 
but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all ; "  what  basis  have  I  laid 
for  the  Apostle's  animating  inference,  "How  shall  he  not 
with  him  also  freely  give  us  all  things  ? "  An  actual 
Sonship,  and  that  implying  a  dignity  of  nature,  and  a 
nearness  to  the  Father,  which  cannot  be  in  any  merely 
created  being,  is  necessary  to  the  argument  of  the  text. 

We  are  well  aware  that  Jesus  is  called  the  Son  of  God, 
sometimes,  in  the  scriptures,  with  reference  to  his  coming 
in  the  flesh,  his  being  miraculously  "conceived  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary."  So  spake 
the  angel  to  Mary,  "  The  Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon 


350  SERMON   XVI. 

thee,  and  the  power  of  the  Highest  shall  overshadow  thee  : 
therefore  that  holy  thing  which  shall  be  born  of  thee  shall 
be  called  the  Son  of  God."  Adam,  for  a  similar  reason, 
as  he  was  the  offspring  of  God  by  creation  out  of  the  dust 
of  the  earth,  is  called  "  the  Son  of  God  ;"*  while  Seth, 
because  he  was  not  thus  created,  is  called  only  the  son  of 
Adam. 

But  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  named  in  the  scriptures, 
"the  Son  of  God,"  in  a  sense  in  which  none  else  can  have 
that  name,  and  by  which  he  is  the  "  only-begotten  Son." 
We  read  in  the  text  that  God  "  delivered  up  "  his  own  Son 
for  us  all.  But  this  was  done  not  merely  when  our  Lord 
was  delivered  up  to  the  ignominy  and  sufferings  of  the 
cross ;  but  before  that ;  when  he  was  delivered  up  to  take 
"  the  form  of  a  servant,"  and  to  be  so  deeply  humbled  as 
to  be  "made  in  the  likeness  of  men."|  Thus  it  is  written: 
— "Being  in  the  form  of  God,  he  thought  it  not  robbery 
to  be  equal  with  God,  but  made  himself  of  no  reputation, 
and  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  was  made 
in  the  likeness  of  men."  He  was  delivered  up  for  us  all, 
when  all  that  humiliation  was  laid  upon  him.  It  was  the 
preparation  for  the  sacrifice  afterward  to  be  offered.  But 
he  who  was  thus  delivered  up  was  then  God's  "  own  Son." 
He  did  not  become  God's  "  own  Son  "  by  being  delivered 
up ;  but  he  was  that  Son  when  delivered  up.  Thus  we 
find  his  Sonship  to  have  existed  before  he  came  into  the 
world  to  save  sinners.  And  hence  we  find  the  Sonship  of 
Christ,  which  is  spoken  of  in  the  text,  to  embrace  all  that 
infinite  dignity  of  nature,  in  which  the  second  person  of 
the  adorable  Trinity  existed,  in  the  Unity  of  the  Godhead, 

*  Luke  iii.  38.  +  fhil.  ii.  6,  7. 


THE  BELIEVER'S  ASSURANCE  IN  CHRIST.  351 

from  all  eternity  ;  "  the  brightness  of  the  Father's  glory 
and  the  express  image  of  his  person."*  The  title,  then, 
of  God's  "  own  Son  "  associates  the  person  of  our  Re- 
deemer with  all  that  is  unsearchable  and  infinite  in  the 
glory  and  majesty  of  Jehovah,  and  brings  to  our  view, 
as  setting  forth  his  attributes,  those  passages  of  Scripture 
which  speak  of  all  things  as  having  been  made  by  him  ; 
and  as  consisting  in  him,  and  upheld  by  him;  which 
moreover  declare  that  he  was  "before  all  things;"  that 
he  is  "above  all  things,"  and  that  "in  him  are  hid  all  the 
treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge ;"  that  the  hearts  of 
men  are  open  to  his  sight,  and  that  all  the  angels  of  God 
worship  him.| 

But  it  is  not  merely  the  infinite  dignity  and  majesty  of 
our  Redeemer  that  we  are  led,  by  the  language  of  our 
text,  to  contemplate.  It  was  more  than  an  infinitely  ex- 
alted and  glorious  person,  whom  God  delivered  for  us  all. 
He  "spared  not  his  own  Son."  It  is  the  special  relation 
which  that  glorious  person  sustained  unto  the  Father  Al- 
mighty, as  his  Son,  "  his  own,  his  only  Son,"  which  is  in- 
tended to  make  the  deepest  impression  on  our  minds,  of 
the  wonderful  grace  and  love  of  God  in  our  redemption. 

Have  you  never  remarked,  my  brethren,  how  very  fre- 
quent in  the  Scriptures  is  the  use  of  the  expression,  GocCs 
Son,  and  equivalent  phrases,  in  application  to  Christ ;  as 
if  it  were  peculiarly  an  object  of  the  inspired  writers  to 
make  us  always  contemplate  him,  no  matter  in  what  other 
aspect  of  dignity  he  may  be  represented,  as  holding  that 
filial  relation  to  the  Father  which  those  words  express  ? 


*Heb.i.  3.     t  John  i.  3.     Col.  i.  17.    Heb.  i.  3.    John  iii.  31.     Col.  ii.  3. 
Acts  i.  24.    Heb.  i.  6. 


352  SERMON  XVI. 

Have  you  never  remarked  how  peculiarly  that  method  of 
speaking  of  Christ  is  used,  when  it  is  the  special  object 
of  any  portion  of  the  scriptures,  to  set  forth,  as  impress- 
ively as  possible,  what  God  did  in  giving  Mm  to  bear  our 
sins ;  and  the  wonderful  love  to  us  that  led  him  to  make 
that  sacrifice ;  how  it  is  then  that  the  scriptures  place 
him  before  us  especially  as  the  loving  Father,  and  how 
he  who  comes  to  us  as  that  great  gift,  is  beheld  as  a  most 
beloved  Son  from  "the  bosom"*  of  that  Father,  and  not 
merely  an  infinitely  exalted  one  from  the  majesty  and 
glory  of  the  Godhead  ?  Take,  as  an  example,  that  pass- 
age, "  Herein  is  love,  not  that  we  loved  God,  but  that  he 
first  loved  us,  and  sent  Us  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  for 
our  sins."  And  another — "  God  so  loved  the  world  that 
he  gave  his  only-begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on 
him  should  not  perish,"  &c.f  It  is  in  this  connection  that 
our  Saviour  is  called  God's  "dear  Son ;"%  his  "ozon  Son;"§ 
his  "beloved  /SW'||  Twice  while  he  was  preparing  for 
the  sacrifice  on  the  cross;  first,  at  his  baptism,  then  at 
his  transfiguration,  when  he  spake  with  Moses  and  Elias 
"  of  his  death  which  he  was  to  accomplish  at  Jerusalem," 
there  came  a  voice  from  the  glory  of  the  Father,  saying, 
"  This  is  my  beloved  Son"**  That  voice  from  heaven 
never  spake  of  him  under  any  other  name.  Nor  when 
the  voice  of  Jesus  ascended  in  prayer  to  God,  is  there  a 
recorded  instance  of  his  using  any  form  of  address  but 
that  of  Father;  sometimes  " Holy  Father,"  or  "Right- 
eous Father," — never  any  substitute  for  Father.  Six 
times  is  that  appellation  used  in  that  intercessory  prayer 

*  John  i.  18.  f  1  John  iv.  10.    John  iii.  16.      *  Col.  i.  13. 

§  Rom.  viii.  32.       |]  Mark  i.  11.  **Luke  ix.  35. 


THE  BELIEVER'S  ASSURANCE  IN  CHRIST.  353 

which  immediately  preceded  his  being  delivered  up  to  be 
crucified.  When  his  soul  was  in  the  agony  of  Geth- 
semane,  his  words  were,  "  0  my  Father ,  if  it  be  possible,  let 
this  cup  pass  from  me ;"  and  when  on  the  cross  he  utter- 
ed, out  of  the  depth  of  his  sufferings,  his  prayer  for  his 
enemies,  it  was  "  Father,  forgive  them,"  and  when  he 
gave  up  his  spirit  in  death,  it  was  with  the  filial  prayer, 
"  Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit."  But 
why  such  an  address  to  God,  in  such  seasons  of  peculiar 
anguish,  if  not  for  precisely  the  same  reason  that  a  son 
on  earth,  the  more  he  feels  his  heart  drawn  to  his  Father, 
will  use  those  words  of  address  to  him  which  express  most 
tenderly  the  emotions  of  a  son?  The  filial  relation  of 
Son  between  Jesus  and  the  Father  Almighty  is  at  least 
as  real  as  that  between  any  son  and  father  on  earth ;  it  is 
the  original  of  which  such  relationships  here  are  but  the 
faint  copy ;  and  we  must  take  care  lest  in  our  thoughts 
we  be  unconsciously  led  to  lose  sight  of  this,  by  imagin- 
ing that  because  in  that  divine  relationship  there  is  an 
infinite  mystery,  therefore  there  is  a  less  literal  reality. 
I  would  say  the  reverse.  Instead  of  throwing  unreality 
into  that  relation,  as  if  it  involved  no  such  emotions,  no 
such  peculiar  love  and  tenderness  as  that  existing  natu- 
rally between  parent  and  son  on  earth ;  as  if  it  were  little 
else  than  a  name  or  an  abstraction,  because  the  Father  is 
the  infinite  God,  and  not  the  mortal  man:  it  would  seem 
rather  to  be  our  duty  to  endeavor  to  conceive  of  it  as  in- 
volving a  Father's  love  and  tenderness,  only  so  much  the 
more  exalted  in  power  and  in  intensity,  as  the  infinite 
God  is  beyond  the  mortal  man,  in  all  the  heights  and 
depths  of  his  nature.  This  view  follows  of  necessity, 
23 


354  SERMON   XVI. 

when  you  once  admit  that  when  the  Scriptures  speak  of 
Christ  as  God's  own  Son,  his  only,  his  beloved  Son,  they 
represent  a  literal  reality,  without  any  limitation  upon  the 
usual  meaning  of  such  words ;  that  when  we  read  in  the 
text  that  God  "spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered 
him  up  for  us  all,"  we  are  not  only  allowed,  but  directed, 
to  form  our  estimate  of  the  cost  of  the  sacrifice,  by  think- 
ing of  what  it  would  cost  one  of  us  to  deliver  up  a  be- 
loved son  to  such  sufferings  as  Jesus  endured,  and  by 
then  adding  to  that  cost  of  ours,  the  consideration  that 
the  Father  as  a  Father,  as  the  Father,  from  whom  ail  pa- 
rental love  on  earth  is  but  the  feeble  derivative,  as  a  ray 
of  light  from  the  sun,  is  as  infinite  in  his  love  and  tender- 
ness as  in  his  power  and  holiness.  And  how  strikingly  do 
you  see  this  in  that  remarkable  type  of  the  sacrifice  of 
Christ,  which  is  presented  in  the  narrative  of  Abraham 
offering  Isaac  his  only  son  upon  the  altar.*  There  you 
see  the  venerable  and  devoted  father,  at  the  command  of 
God,  without  a  murmur,  taking  that  only  and  beloved  son, 
and  going  forth  on  the  long  journey  to  the  distant  mount 
of  sacrifice,  perfectly  expecting  there  to  slay  his  son ; 
you  hear  those  words  from  Isaac  as  they  walk  along,  words 
so  calculated  to  unman  a  father's  strongest  determination 
— "My  father,  behold  the  fire  and  the  wood,  but  where  is 
the  lamb  for  a  burnt-offering?"  At  length  they  reach  the 
place,  and  you  see  Abraham  building  the  altar  and  laying 
on  it  the  wood,  and  then  laying  his  son  thereon,  and  bind- 
ing him  down ;  and  no  complaint  is  heard  from  the  sub- 
missive son:  and  now  the  father's  hand  has  taken  the 
knife  to  slay  him ;  the  sacrifice  is  virtually  made ;  the 

*  Gen.  xxii. 


THE  BELIEVER'S  ASSURANCE  IN  CHRIST.  355 

suffering  of  Abraham  was  as  agonizing  as  if  he  had  actu- 
ally slain  his  son.  Who  can  tell  what  he  suffered?  How 
does  the  narrative,  with  particular  intent,  take  care  that, 
as  we  read  it,  we  shall  not  for  a  moment  lose  sight  of  the 
fact  that  it  is  a  father  not  sparing  his  only  son.  The  com- 
mand to  Abraham  was,  "  Take  now  thy  son,  thine  only  son 
Isaac,  whom  thou  lovest."  Every  word  of  that  command 
drew  blood  from  that  father's  heart.  In  the  conversation, 
as  they  go  on  their  way,  Isaac  says,  "  My  father"  Abra- 
ham answers,  "Here  am  I,  my  son."  And  when  the 
trial  is  over,  the  blessing  pronounced  on  Abraham  begins 
with  the  preface,  "Seeing  thou  hast  not  withheld  thy  son, 
thine  only  son"*  All  this  we  find  in  the  most  distinct 
and  impressive  of  all  the  types  and  promises  of  the  sacri- 
fice of  Christ  given  to  the  Patriarchal  Church;  yea,  in 
that  very  type  in  which  Abraham  was  granted  to  see  by 
prophetic  exhibition  the  "day"  of  Christ  "and  was  glad."~f 
And  why  all  this,  but  that  when  we  are  considering  the 
cost,  and  the  dignity,  and  the  efficacy  of  the  sacrifice  of 
Christ,  and  the  love  that  provided  it  for  us,  and  all  the 
comforting  inferences  for  the  believer  which  flow  therefrom, 
we  should  concentrate  our  attention  mainly  upon  the  Son- 
ship  of  Christ;  upon  the  fact  that  he  was  not  merely  "the 
brightness  of  the  Father's  glory," — of  the  same  essential 
divinity,  but  "  his  only  begotten  Son ;"  so  that, — as  it  was 
so  much  the  more  wonderful  evidence  of  the  obedience  of 
Abraham,  that  he  withheld  not  his  son,  his  only  Isaac  whom 
he  loved,  but  delivered  him  for  a  burnt-offering  at  God's 
command,  we  should  be  the  more  deeply  penetrated  with 
a  sense  of  the  wonderful  love  of  God  to  sinners,  because 
"he  spared  not  his  own  Son,"  so  infinitely  nearer  and  more 

*  Gen.  xxii.  1—17.  f  Jqhn  viii.  56. 


356  SERMON    XVI. 

beloved  than  ever  any  only  son  to  a  father's  heart  among 
men,  "  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all." 

And  what  thus  is  the  great  crowning  glory  of  our  re- 
demption as  respects  the  love  that  provided  it,  and  the 
efficacy  attending  it,  is  the  basis  also  of  its  crowning  bles- 
sedness in  regard  to  the  benefits  accruing  therefrom  to 
the  believer.  It  is  because  Christ  is  God's  "dear  Son  "  in 
virtue  of  his  divine  nature,  that  sinners  obtain,  as  united 
to  him  by  a  living  faith,  the  relationship  of  God's  adopted 
sons.  Our  redemption  began  with  God's  not  sparing  his 
own  Son,  but  delivering  him  up  for  us  all.  It  will  be  com- 
pleted in  God's  receiving  believers  as  sons  in  Christ  and 
for  Christ's  sake,  and  delivering  all  the  glory  of  his  king- 
dom unto  them  all.  It  was  the  Sonship  of  Christ  that 
made  his  sacrifice  so  infinitely  meritorious.  It  is  the  son- 
ship  of  his  people,  by  adoption  in  him,  unto  God,  so  that 
they  are  made  "heirs  of  God  and  joint-heirs  with  Christ," 
that  will  make  their  everlasting  portion  so  inconceivably 
glorious. 

Let  us  now  speak  in  the  second  place  of, 

II.     That  unto  which  God  delivered  his  own  $on. 

We  might  survey  the  whole  mission  of  Christ,  from  his 
being  made  in  the  form  of  a  servant,  till  he  rose  from  the 
dead,  and  say  that  unto  all  the  humiliation,  and  labors, 
and  sufferings  of  that  period  was  he  delivered.  But  as 
all  had  reference  to,  and  were  all  completed  in  that  one 
event,  for  which  chiefly  he  took  our  nature,  namely,  Ms 
death  on  the  cross,  therefore  we  find  in  the  scriptures,  that 
his  being  delivered  for  us  all,  has  reference  mainly  to  that 
event;  as  when  he  said,  "The  Son  of  Man  shall  be  deliv- 
ered into  the  hands  of  men  ;*  and,  as  when  Peter  said  to 

*  Luke  ix.  44. 


THE  BELIEVER'S  ASSURANCE  IN  CHRIST.  357 

the  Jews,  "  Him  being  delivered  by  the  determinate  coun- 
sel and  foreknowledge  of  God,  ye  have  taken,  and  by 
wicked  hands  have  crucified  and  slain."  *  And,  again, 
He  "  was  delivered  for  our  offences  and  raised  again  for 
our  justification  ;"t  where  "delivered"  being  put  in  oppo- 
sition to  being  raised  again,  shows  that  it  was  deliverance 
unto  death  that  was  meant. 

But  our  Lord  Jesus  endured  that  death  as  a  penalty. 
It  was  the  penalty  of  our  sins.  He  "redeemed  us  from 
the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a  curse  for  us."  Hence, 
as  his  death  was  the  penalty  imposed  by  the  violated  law, 
under  which  he  was  placed  that  he  might  redeem  us  from 
its  curse,  it  is  more  proper  to  say  that  Christ  was  delivered 
unto  the  law,  the  broken  law,  to  endure  all  its  wrath,  to 
exhaust  all  its  curse,  to  pay  all  its  demand  against  sinners, 
to  make  a  perfect  atonement  for  all  our  transgressions,  in 
order  that  when  that  work  was  finished,  he  might  "preach 
deliverance  to  the  captives,  and  the  opening  of  the  prison 
doors"  to  all  that  are  bound  under  its  condemnation. 

But  let  us  consider  all  that  is  contained  in  this  view. 
The  law  of  God,  just,  and  holy,  and  good,  without  imper- 
fection, and  on  the  supremacy  and  upholding  of  which,  all 
things,  in  every  gradation  of  God's  intelligent  creatures, 
depend,  was  broken  and  dishonored  by  man.  Its  penalty, 
pronounced  upon  every  one  that  continueth  not  in  all 
things  written  in  the  book  of  the  law,  must  be  paid.  It 
was  not  in  the  nature  of  law  to  "clear  the  guilty."  Man, 
therefore,  the  sinner,  was  held  under  its  arrest,  under  con- 
demnation, in  bonds,  unto  eternal  death.  That  eternal 
death  he  must  die,  or  a  surety  must  satisfy,  in  his  stead, 
'the  justice,  and  holiness,  and  majesty  of  the  law.  But 

*  Acts  ii.  23.  t  Rom.  iv.  25. 


358  SERMON  XVI. 

whence  shall  that  surety  be  provided?  Who  could  make 
atonement  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world  ?  Who  could 
receive  and  bear  upon  his  soul  "  the  iniquities  of  us  all," 
of  all  ages ;  and  so  suffer  for  them,  and  so  make  propitia- 
tion, and  impart  to  the  propitiation  such  wonderful  value, 
that  no  demand  of  the  law  should  remain  unpaid,  no  part 
of  its  curse  uninflicted,  no  word  of  its  commandment  not 
perfectly  honored  and  vindicated;  yea,  so  that  God 
might  be  just  and  yet  the  justifier  of  the  ungodly  ?  In 
the  whole  range  of  creation,  among  all  the  "  principalities 
and  powers  in  heavenly  places,"  there  was  none  compe- 
tent to  that  office.  The  surety  must  come  from  above  the 
rank  of  created  beings,  or  not  at  all.  Must  he  then 
come  from  the  throne  of  God?  The  language  of  God  to 
Abraham,  when  he  demanded  of  him  no  less  a  sacrifice 
than  his  only  son  Isaac,  we  may,  without  irreverence,  sup- 
pose to  have  been,  in  this  emergency,  addressed  by  the 
law  to  the  love  of  God  the  Father  Almighty  :  "  Take  thy 
Son,  thine  only  begotten  Son,  whom  thou  lovest,  and  offer 
him  up  for  a  burnt-offering,"  and  there  shall  be  no  con- 
demnation to  those  that  shall  believe  in  his  name. 

And,  wonderful  to  say,  the  boundless  love  of  God  con- 
sented. He  beheld,  infinitely  more  clearly  than  we  now 
see  it  in  the  history,  all  that  was  to  be  endured  by  his  own 
Son,  if  delivered  up  to  that  work  of  redemption — all  the 
long  descent  of  humiliation,  from  the  throne  of  the  God- 
head to  the  ignominy  of  the  cross ;  all  the  steps  of  sacri- 
fice and  suffering,  from  the  day  he  took  our  nature  in  the 
virgin's  womb  to  the  day  in  which  he  arose  in  it  from  the 
grave.  And  for  whom  was  such  cost  to  be  incurred?  Ah ! , 
what  a  world  he  looked  upon  !  "We  were  enemies."  "All 


THE  BELIEVER'S  ASSURANCE  IN  CHRIST.  359 

we  like  sheep  had  gone  astray."  We  desired  not  that 
God  should  reign  over  us.  The  world  was  one  vast  theatre 
of  rebellion  and  corruption,  deserving  only  God's  wrath 
and  damnation.  And  how  perfectly  did  he  search  all  its 
iniquity  to  its  depth ;  and  see  it  in  all  generations  and  in 
all  hearts  at  one  view ;  and  estimate,  as  we  cannot  approach 
unto,  all  its  vileness,  ingratitude,  and  hatefulness,  as  it 
rose  up  against  his  authority — as  it  despised  all  his  love- 
as  it  stood  in  awful  contrast  with  his  infinite  holiness! 
And  it  was  for  such  sinners,  that  he,  or  none,  must  find  a 
ransom.  Then  he  "  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered 
him  up  for  us  all."  The  Son  was  first  delivered  up  to  be 
66 made  of  no  reputation"  by  being  made  in  "the  form 
of  a  servant"  and  "the  likeness  of  man,"  so  that  coming 
into  the  world  in  our  nature,  he  might  become  "  obedient 
unto  death"  for  our  sins.  But  no  sooner  did  he  thus  be- 
come man,  as  the  surety  for  all  men,  than  the  law  recog- 
nized him  in  that  mediatorial  office,  and  began  at  once  to 
lay  upon  him  the  iniquities  of  us  all,  and  to  wound  him 
for  our  transgressions.  All  his  way,  from  birth  to  cruci- 
fixion, that  wounding  went  on.  "  The  chastisement  of  our 
peace  was  upon  him"  continually,  for  he  was  all  the  while 
the  "  man  of  sorrows,  and  acquainted  with  grief,"  and 
every  sorrow  was  part  of  the  price  that  bought  our  re- 
demption, and  every  grief  was  an  offering  for  us.  At  last 
he  was  delivered  unto  death.  So  perfectly  was  he  deliv- 
ered into  the  hands  of  the  law,  and  held  under  its  arrest 
in  our  stead,  and  treated  as  if  all  our  sins  were  his,  and 
thus  identified  with  us  as  our  surety,  by  whose  stripes  we 
are  saved,  that  it  is  written  he  was  "made  sin  for  ^«s"  * — 
words  which  can  be  understood  in  no  other  sense  than  that 

*  Romans  v,  21. 


360  SERMON  XVI. 

our  sins  were  imputed  to  him,  and  he  bore  them  as  our 
surety  under  the  vengeance  of  the  law,  as  if  they  were 
personally  his  own. 

Oh !  how  can  we  comprehend  the  depth  and  height  of 
the  love  of  God  as  thus  manifested  for  us  !  Read  it  in 
its  type — Abraham  offering  up  his  son.  You  see  the 
venerable  patriarch  receiving  the  command,  "take  thine 
only  son,  whom  thou  lovest,  and  offer  him  up  for  a  burnt- 
ofifering  on  one  of  the  mountains  which  I  will  tell  thee  of." 
He  rises  "early  in  the  morning  "  for  the  painful  journey ; 
cleaves  the  wood  for  the  burning  of  the  precious  victim; 
keeps  on,  with  his  Isaac,  those  three  long  days  of  con- 
cealed anguish,  towards  the  appointed  place ;  every  step 
a  martyrdom,  every  thought  a  crucifixion;  leaves  the 
servants  at  a  distance  from  the  mount  selected,  lest  they 
should  prevent  the  sacrifice;  takes  Isaac  alone,  lays  upon 
him  the  wood  to  bear  it  up  the  mount,  takes  in  his  own 
hand  the  fire  and  the  knife,  builds  the  altar,  binds  his  son, 
and  is  just  proceeding  to  slay;  oh,  how  could  mortal  heart 
be  strong  enough  for  such  obedience !  How  wonderful 
the  love  of  Abraham  to  God,  that  he  did  not  spare  his 
only  son,  his  beloved  Isaac,  the  only  heir  of  the  promises 
made  unto  himself,  but  without  a  murmur  delivered  him 
to  death  by  his  own  father's  hand,  because  God  comman- 
ded! 

But  let  us  turn  to  the  antetype.  How  very  "  early  in 
the  morning  "  of  the  world's  history  did  God  begin,  in  his 
providence  and  grace,  to  prepare  for  the  offering  of  the 
sacrifice  of  propitiation  for  our  sins ;  for  how  many  thou- 
sands of  years  was  there  one  continual  progress  towards 
that  wonderful  offering ;  how  was  every  step  and  arrange- 


THE  BELIEVER'S  ASSURANCE  IN  CHRIST.  361 

merit  of  God's  dispensations  directed  with  a  view  to  that 
one  great  event ;  with  what  constancy  of  purpose  all 
things  were  made  to  work  together  to  bring  it  to  pass! 
As  in  the  journey  of  Abraham,  there  was  carried  the 
wood,  the  knife,  and  the  fire,  as  well  as  the  lamb  for  the 
offering;  so  from  the  beginning  of  the  world's  sinfulness, 
as  God  was  bringing  nearer  and  nearer  the  fullness  of 
time,  when  his  own  Son  should  be  actually  offered  up  a 
propitiation  for  our  sins,  the  signs  of  that  promised  sacri- 
fice were  seen  by  all  generations  of  his  Church,  the  fire, 
the  ivood,  the  knife,  and  the  victim,  all  presented  in  that- 
shedding  of  blood,  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  in  that 
burning  of  sacrifices  upon  altars,  which,  from  the  offering 
of  righteous  Abel  to  the  last  in  Jerusalem,  before  the 
vail  of  the  temple  was  rent  in  twain  at  the  death  of 
Christ,  foreshadowed,  and  kept  up  in  the  expectation  of 
the  Church,  that  one  perfect  and  sufficient  oblation  and 
satisfaction  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world. 

At  length  "  the  fullness  of  the  times "  had  come,  and 
"  God  sent  forth  his  Son,  made  of  a  woman,  made  under  the 
law."  Every  step  in  the  life  of  Jesus  from  that  hour,  was 
towards  that  mount  which  God  had  appointed  for  the  offer- 
ing. Every  enemy  was  made  a  servant  to  help  on  the 
journey.  Jesus  bore  the  fuel  of  the  burnt  offering,  in 
bearing  our  nature  and  our  sins.  But  the  fire  and  the 
knife  to  slay  were  in  the  Father's  hand.  The  hour  is 
come.  The  only  Son  of  God  is  nailed  to  the  cross,  "  by 
wicked  hands,"  which  accomplish  unknowingly,  "the  de- 
terminate counsel"  of  the  Father.  Legions  of  angels 
there  are  to  rescue  him,  if  summoned ;  but,  like  the  ser- 
vants of  Abraham,  they  are  kept  away.  There  is  none  to 


362  SERMON  XVI. 

help.  The  sword  of  divine  justice  is  stretched  forth  in  all 
its  wrath  against  him,  as  our  representative  and  substitute. 
He  is  "not  spared"  in  the  least.  Every  sin,  of  every 
soul,  of  every  generation,  with  its  whole  penalty,  is  visited 
upon  him,  until  the  last  drop  of  the  bitter  cup  is  drank, 
and  the  last  jot  and  tittle  of  the  exaction  of  the  law  is 
satisfied.  He  suffered  to  the  uttermost,  that  he  might 
"save  to  the  uttermost  ah1  that  come  unto  God  by  him." 
To  the  most  ignominious  and  the  most  painful  death,  was 
he  delivered.  Everything  that  accompanied  it,  all  its 
accessories,  all  the  stripes,  and  mockery,  and  revilings, 
the  being  crucified  between  two  thieves,  and  regarded  as 
a  malefactor,  all  tell  us  how  little  the  Father  spared  him, 
how  entirely  he  delivered  him  up.  The  sharpest  agony 
came  when  God  the  Father,  for  a  time,  did  hide  his  face 
from  his  Son ;  thus  treating  him  so  entirely  as  we  deserved 
to  be  treated,  in  whose  place  he  suffered.  Even  that  most 
inconceivable  agony,  the  beloved  Son  was  not  spared. 
And  then  it  was  that  there  came  that  cry  of  anguish, 
"  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  !  " 

Ah !  it  is  what  gives  that  sacrifice  its  most  affecting 
aspect,  and  declares  most  impressively  how  God  regards 
the  guilt  of  sin,  and  yet  loves,  and  would  save,  the  sinner, 
that,  while  to  human  eye  there  were  no  agents  in  the 
death  and  sufferings  of  Christ  but  men,  and  no  causes  of 
pain  but  such  as  their  hands  employed;  the  hand  that 
really  delivered  him  up — the  unseen  hand  that  really 
bound  him  and  laid  him  on  the  altar,  that  gave  him  the 
bitter  cup  to  drink,  that  kindled  the  fire  of  agony  which 
burned  in  his  very  soul,  was  that  of  his  Father.  He 
"laid  on  him  the  iniquities  of  us  all."  "It  pleased  the 


THE  BELIEVER'S  ASSURANCE  IN  CHRIST.  363 

Lord,  (said  the  prophet  Isaiah),  to  bruise  him,  to  put  him 
to  grief."  It  was  he  who  made  the  soul  of  Jesus  "  an 
offering  for  sin."*  And  not  till  that  offering  had  become 
a  complete  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world; 
not  till  God's  own  Son,  standing  as  our  surety  under  the 
demands  of  the  law,  had  satisfied  them  to  the  uttermost, 
did  God  spare  him,  or  cease  to  put  him  to  grief.  But  so 
soon  as  that  price  was  paid,  and  that  propitiation  was 
finished,  did  the  law  remove  its  arrest,  and  the  surety  was 
justified  from  the  imputed  sins  of  men,  and  deliverance 
was  given  to  him  who  had  been  bound  under  their  con- 
demnation. Then  came  forth  the  Lord  of  Glory  from  the 
bonds  of  death,  having  spoiled  "principalities  and  pow- 
ers," and  "  having  blotted  out  the  hand- writing  that  was 
against  us,  and  taken  it  out  of  the  way,  nailing  it  to  his 
cross."|  Then  ascended  he  up  on  high,  "leading  captivity 
captive,"  to  "the  joy  set  before  him,"  for  which  he 
had  "  endured  the  cross,  despising  the  shame.'"  From 
that  time,  all  things  were  ready  for  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel  of  his  free,  and  perfect,  and  glorious  salvation  to 
every  creature.  From  that  time,  "  the  righteousness  of 
God  without  the  law  has  been  manifested,  being  witnessed 
by  the  law  and  the  prophets ;  even  the  righteousness  of 
God  which  is  by  faith  of  Jesus  Christ,  unto  all  and  upon 
all  them  that  believe  5"  J  a  free  and  perfect  justification 
from  all  sin  to  every  soul  coming  unto,  and  with  a  peni- 
tent heart  embracing,  the  mediation  of  Christ ;  so  that 
"  now  there  is  no  condemnation  to  them  that  are  in  Christ 
Jesus ;"  there  is  no  such  thing  remaining  to  them,  or 
possible  unto  them — all  taken  away,  blotted  out,  nailed  to 
the  cross  of  Christ. 

» Isaiah  liii.  6,  10.  f  Col.  ii.  14,  15.  \  Romans  iii.  21,  22. 


364  SERMON   XVI. 

III.  Let  us  now,  in  conclusion,  attend  to  the  exceed- 
ingly comforting  inference  drawn  by  the  Apostle  from  all 
this  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus:  "How  shall  he  not  with 
Mm  also  freely  give  us  all  things!" 

The  apostle  argues  from  the  greater  to  the  less.  What 
has  God  done  for  us  already?  He  has  given  us  his  be- 
loved Son.  Not  only  that — he  delivered  him  up  to  all 
humiliation  and  suffering — yea,  to  be  made  sin  for  us; 
what  now  can  we  need  that  must  not  come  immeasurably 
short  of  the  preciousness  of  that  gift  ?  He  gave  that  gift 
most  freely ;  without  money  or  price  on  our  part;  when 
we  were  enemies;  when  we  desired  not  the  knowledge 
of  his  ways ;  when  every  thing  in  us,  and  in  the  world 
invoked  his  wrath ;  and  now  that  we  have  turned  unto 
him  and  embraced  his  mercy  in  Christ,  will  he  not  freely, 
without  any  merit  or  price  in  us,  as  freely  as  he  gave  his 
Son  for  us,  give  us  all  things;  all  that  we  need  for  our 
present  welfare  and  our  eternal  salvation?  Shall  we  not 
be  "justified  freely  by  his  grace"  from  all  our  sins,  see- 
ing he  has  so  freely  provided  a  perfect  righteousness  for 
our  justification  in  Christ  ?  Will  he  not  most  freely  give 
us  grace  to  help  in  time  of  need,  seeing  that  his  grace  has 
already  so  abounded  towards  us,  that  he  hath  not  spared 
his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all  ?  Will  he  not 
sustain  us  in  death  that  we  faint  not ;  and  lift  us  up  above 
its  waves,  that  we  fear  not;  and  then  receive  us  graciously 
to  all  that  glory  which  Jesus  hath  purchased  and  prepared 
for  his  people  ? 

How  strong  is  this  method  of  consolation  in  lower  re- 
lations !  Suppose  you  should  hear  of  a  poor  lost  orphan 
child,  carried  far  away  into  grievous  bondage,  and  you 


THE  BELIEVER'S  ASSURANCE  IN  CHRIST.  365 

should  feel  so  moved  with  compassion  as  to  go  a  long 
journey,  at  a  great  sacrifice,  to  deliver  him.  You  then 
take  him  to  your  home,  adopt  him  as  your  son,  and  assure 
him  that  you  will  be  to  him  a  father.  But  bye  and  bye 
I  find  that  child  distressed.  He  thinks  how  little  claim 
he  has  on  your  love,  how  little  he  can  do  to  repay  it ;  he 
says  to  himself — 6  Why  should  such  as  I  be  the  object  of 
such  gratuitous  affection?  what  if  those  who  carried  me 
away  should  be  permitted  to  regain  their  captive?  what 
if  I  should  be  suffered,  at  any  rate,  to  come  to  want,  and 
wander  unfriended  amidst  the  dangers  and  trials  of  this 
world? "  Now,  what  could  I  do  to  that  troubled  heart,  so 
calculated  to  lift  it  up  in  hope  and  confidence,  as  to  say, 
"He  that  has  already  done  for  you  so  much,  he  that 
sought  you  out  when  a  stranger — now  that  you  are  his 
adopted  child,  how  shall  he  not  most  surely  protect,  and 
sustain,  and  cherish  you!  " 

Such  is  a  most  feeble  illustration,  indeed,  of  the  "  strong 
consolation "  which  belongs  to  those  who  have  fled  for 
refuge  to  lay  hold  on  the  hope  set  before  them  in 
Christ.  The  child  of  God  has  his  fears  and  temptations. 
The  future,  between  this  and  the  grave,  with  all  its  antici- 
pated and  unanticipated  trials;  the  future,  beyond  the 
grave,  with  its  day  of  judgment  and  its  eternal  inherit- 
ance of  bliss  or  woe,  arises  to  fill  his  mind  with  care. 
"May  not  one  so  weak  as  I,  be  left  to  my  own  strength, 
when  trials  come,  seeing  I  so  much  deserve  it?  Can  I 
feel  assured  of  grace  according  to  my  day,  when  already 
I  have  so  much  abused  the  grace  of  God  ?  Will  he  accept 
such  prayers  as  mine,  which,  though  presented  in  repent- 
ance, looking  only  unto  Jesus,  and  from  a  heart  that  does 


366  SERMON  xvi. 

love  him,  are  so  weak  in  every  holy  affection,  and  so  pol- 
luted with  sinfulness?  Can  I  feel  persuaded  that  I  shall 
not  be  left  to  go  down  alone,  unlighted,  unsupported,  into 
the  valley  and  shadow  of  death  ?  And  when,  in  the  great 
day,  I  stand  accused  by  the  broken  law,  and  ten  thousand 
thousand  sins  confront  me,  oh !  will  Jesus  then  remember 
me  in  his  kingdom,  and  interpose  his  righteousness  to 
shield  and  justify  me?" 

Under  such  thoughts,  his  soul  tempted  to  be  cast  down 
and  disquieted  within  him,  the  believer  calls  up  the  direct 
promises  of  the  scriptures,  and  endeavors  to  cast  all  his 
cares  upon  God.  But  nothing  enables  him  to  do  this 
with  more  sweet  and  sustaining  consolation,  than  the 
thought  of  what  the  grace  of  God  has  already  done  on 
his  behalf.  What  greater  assurance  could  I  have  (he 
meditates)  of  inexhaustible  love  and  grace,  than  that 
which  meets  me  at  every  remembrance  of  the  death  of 
Christ  ?  He  saw  me,  a  wandering,  impenitent,  disobedi- 
ent, ruined  sinner,  my  heart  wholly  alienated  from  him, 
my  soul  deserving  to  abide  forever  under  his  condemna- 
tion. Then  he  gave  his  own  Son  to  bear  my  sins,  that  I 
might  be  received  as  his  adopted  child.  Every  conceiva- 
ble gift  of  grace  was  contained  and  promised  in  that 
greatest  of  all  possible  gifts.  What  stronger  assurance 
is  possible  ?  If,  on  the  bosom  of  every  cloud,  I  should 
see  the  tokens  of  his  forgiving  mercy ;  if  all  the  angels  of 
heaven  should  be  despatched  on  purpose  to  tell  me  that 
God  will  never  forsake  me,  but  will  freely  give  me  all  I 
need ;  yea,  if  at  every  step  I  should  hear  a  voice  from 
heaven,  saying,  "  Let  not  your  heart  be  ^troubled ; "  could 
all  this  be  stronger  than  the  single  fact  that  God  has  al- 


THE  BELIEVER'S  ASSURANCE  IN  CHRIST.  367 

ready  so  loved  me,  that  he  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but 
delivered  him  up  to  the  cross  for  me?  Oh,  no!  hope 
thou  in  God.  He  that  laid  such  a  foundation,  will  surely 
enable  thee  to  build  thereon  the  "hope  that  maketh  not 
ashamed."  He  who  at  such  cost,  hath  opened  for  thee 
that  new  and  living  way,  will  not  fail  thee  when  thou 
needest  and  seekest  his  grace  to  walk  therein.  He  who 
purchased  for  .thee,  at  such  a  price,  the  incorruptible  in- 
heritance, surely,  when  thou  seekest  it  in  the  way  of  his 
own  appointment,  will  not  fail,  in  his  own  time,  to  give 
thee  possession?  "All  things  are  yours,"  Christian  be- 
liever, because  "you  are  Christ's,  and  Christ  is  God's."* 
Fear  not,  for  "  it  is  your  Father's  good  pleasure  to  give 
you  the  kingdom."  When  his  pleasure  was,  to  put  his 
people  Israel  in  possession  of  the  land  of  Canaan,  and  to 
give  them  the  heritage  of  the  heathen,  if  the  Red  Sea 
opposed  their  march,  it  was  made  to  divide,  and  open 
their  path;  if  a  mighty  host  pursued  them,  they  were 
made  more  than  conquerors;  if  they  wanted  bread  in  the 
wilderness,  the  manna  came  down  from  heaven ;  if  they 
wanted  water,  where  all  was  dry,  the  flinty  rock  was  made 
to  yield  it.  So  shall  it  be  to  the  end  of  the  world.  Our 
Lord  Jesus  must  "  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul,  and  be 
satisfied."  For  that  end,  all  that  believe  in  him  shall 
come  to  him,  and  be  with  him  in  his  glory,  joint  heirs  in 
his  kingdom ;  and  if  all  the  angel-host  be  needed  for  their 
safety  on  the  way,  and  all  the  riches  of  grace  be  required 
for  their  journey  to  the  heavenly  country — all  are  theirs ; 
given  already,  most  freely,  in  the  greater  and  all-contain- 
ing gift  of  God's  own  Son. 

*1  Cor.  iii.  21,23. 


368  SERMON   XVI. 

Then,  Christian  brethren,  let  us  comprehend  the  breadth 
and  length  of  the  grace  wherein  we  stand,  and  rejoice  in 
hope  of  the  glory  of  God.  Let  us  catch  some  of  the 
abounding  joy  of  that  Apostle,  who  so  well  knew  in  whom 
he  believed,  and  so  felt  the  certainty  of  what  he  believed, 
concerning  the  freeness  and  fullness  of  the  salvation  of 
God  to  all  believers.  "Who  is  he  that  condemneth?  (he 
cries ;)  it  is  Christ  that  died.  Who  shall  lay  anything  to 
the  charge  of  God's  elect?  It  is  God  that  justifieth. 
Who  shall  separate  us  from  the  love  of  Christ?  I  am 
persuaded  that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  principalities, 
nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor 
any  other  creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the 
love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.'^ 

But,  brethren,  to  be  allowed  thus  to  live  in  triumphant 
elevation  above  all  fears  of  death  and  hell,  in  joyful  assu- 
rance of  the  love  of  God  as  our  portion  forever,  is  indeed 
a  "high  calling,"  a  "holy  calling,"  and  requires  of  us  that 
we  walk  worthily  thereof.  I  have  time  only  to  speak  of 
one  particular  of  a  worthy  walk  according  to  such  vo- 
cation. 

Freely  hath  God  provided  for  us  all  things  in  Christ, 
and  freely  will  he  give  us  all  things  with  him,  and  therefore 
freely  should  we  seek  all  things  thus  laid  up  for  us,  and 
waiting  our  earnest  and  faithful  application.  Such  abound- 
ing treasures,  offered  so  freely,  demand  of  us  correspond- 
ing desires,  large  expectations,  large  prayers.  Among 
the  "all  things  "provided,  is  not  only  a  free  and  complete 
justification  to  every  believer,  grace  to  help  in  every  time 
of  need,  consolation  in  all  affliction,  strength  for  all  duties, 

*  Romans  viii.  33-39. 


THE  BELIEVER'S  ASSURANCE  IN  CHRIST.  369 

and  all  we  can  want  in  the  hour  of  death ;  but  "  the  Spirit 
of  holiness  "  to  carry  on  in  our  hearts  the  work  of  righteous- 
ness, and  to  "  bring  every  thought  into  captivity  to  the 
obedience  of  Christ,"  till  we  are  made   perfect   in   the 
image  of  God.     Next  to  Christ  himself,  there  is  nothing 
so  precious  as  that  Spirit  of  holiness.     Among  the  all 
things  which    God    will    give    us   with   Christ,   nothing 
should  we  so  desire,  in  union  with  his  righteousness  to 
justify,  as  his  Spirit  to  sanctify  us.     Blessed  are  they  that 
hunger  and  thirst  after  that  free  gift  of  God  in  Christ. 
Let  your  hearts  pant  after  it !     Let  your  prayers  impor- 
tunately beg  for  it.     The  more  you  seek,  the  more  will 
come.     God  has  most  freely  provided  the  treasury.     You 
must  most  freely,  largely,  earnestly,  draw  thereon,  in  your 
prayers    and   expectations;    standing   at   the  door   and 
knocking  till  it  is  opened ;  using  every  receipt  of  grace 
as  the  argument  only  to  make  you  wait  upon  God  the 
more  continually,  and  knock  at  the  door  of  his  treasury 
the  more  importunately,  for  additional  gifts  of  every  grace. 
But  if  God  spared  not  his  own  Son  from  being  a  sacri- 
fice for  our  sins,  shall  we  spare  our  sins,  that  cost  such 
sacrifice  ?     Must  we  not  hate  them,  and  be  humbled  for 
them,  and  take  every  method  to  put  them  to  death,  as 
most  vile  and  abominable  ?     "  He  who  knew  no  sin,  ivas 
made  sin  for  us"     It  was  therefore  ^ue  who,  by  our  sins, 
did  adjudge  and  sentence  him  to    death.     The  raging 
Jewish  priests  were  our  agents.     The  Roman  soldiers  were 
our   representatives.     Our   sins,  it  was,  that  cried   out, 
Crucify  him,  Crucify  him  !  with  demands  more  insatiable 
than  all  the  multitude  that  followed  him  to  Calvary.     Not 
so  much  therefore  upon  Jewish  murderers,  as  upon  our 
24 


370  SERMON  XVI. 

sins,  let  us  turn  our  indignation,  and  discharge  all  the 
resentment  our  hearts  can  feel,  most  freely  condemning 
them,  and  striving  to  put  them  to  death,  as  we  joyfully 
hope  freely  to  be  justified  from  all  of  them  through  the 
atoning  death,  and  the  ever-living  intercession,  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

One  word  more.  Brethren,  did  God  indeed  deliver  up 
his  own  Son  for  us  all,  and  must  we  not  all,  under  the 
sense  of  deepest  indebtedness,  under  the  constraining 
force  of  the  most  earnest  thankfulness,  deliver  up  our- 
selves unto  God  in  return,  as  the  least  we  can  offer  him  ? 
Shall  we  think  of  a  divided  heart  for  the  sacrifice  of 
thanksgiving?  Shall  we  profess  to  lay  down  all  we  owe 
at  his  feet,  and  yet  keep  back  part  of  the  price?  Shall 
we  allow  the  world  to  share  where  God  has  such  claims  on 
all  ?  Will  you  bring  the  lame,  and  the  halt,  and  the  blind, 
to  his  service,  when  the  blood  of  Christ  has  purchased  all 
you  have,  all  you  can  do,  and  when  all  must  come  so 
immeasurably  short  of  the  cost  of  the  purchase ?  "I 
beseech  you,  by  the  mercies  of  God,  that  ye  present  your 
bodies,  yourselves,  your  hearts,  and  lives,  a  living  sacri- 
fice, holy,  acceptable  to  God,  through  Jesus  Christ,"  for 
that  only  is  "your  reasonable  service."  May  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord  come  down  upon  all  of  us,  to  make  us  dead 
to  sin,  and  alive  unto  God,  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord !  Amen. 


SEEMQI  XVII. 


THE  BELIEVER'S  PORTION  IN  CHRIST.* 


COLOSSIANS  i.  12. 

"  Give  thanks  unto  the  Father,  which  hath  made  us  meet  to  be  partakers  of 
the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light." 

IT  is  as  much  the  duty  of  the  Christian  to  give  thanks,  as 
to  pray,  unto  the  Father.  If  we  are  commanded  to  "pray 
without  ceasing"  we  are  also  commanded  "in  everything  to 
give  thanks"  In  everything,  it  is  a  great  matter  of  thank- 
fulness, that  we  are  permitted,  enabled,  and  so  graciously 
encouraged,  to  pray.  A  sinner  permitted  to  live  under 
the  invitations  of  the  Gospel,  instead  of  being  condemned 
to  live  eternally  where  only  the  wrath  of  God  abideth, 
can  never  in  anything  lack  a  theme  of  thanksgiving. 
But  a  sinner  whose  heart  has  been  drawn  by  the  grace  of 
God  to  the  embracing  of  the  invitations  of  the  Gospel ; 
whose  heart  has  been  so  changed  by  the  power  of  God, 
that  he  is  now  made  meet  to  be  a  partaker  of  the  inherir 
tance  of  the  saints  in  light,  having  in  that  very  condition 
of  his  heart,  the  indwelling  earnest  and  witness  of  the 
Spirit  that  he  will  finally  become  a  partaker  in  that 
glorious  inheritance  ;  he  surely  must  in  everything  give 
thanks ;  no  adversity,  no  affliction,  must  ever  hide  from, 
his  sight  his  boundless  debt  of  praise,  to  the  riches  of 

*  Preached  at  St.  Dunstan's-in-the-West,  London,  May  8,  1853. 


372  SERMON  XVII. 

the  grace  of  God  to  his  soul;  all  his  life  long,  he  must 
be  so  deeply  sensible  of  the  preciousness  of  his  hope  in 
Christ,  and  of  the  wonderful  mercy  of  God  in  bringing 
him  thereto,  out  of  the  sinfulness  and  condemnation  of 
his  unconverted  state,  as  to  make  it  his  heart's  delight  to 
give  thanks  unto  the  Father,  who  thus  hath  made  him 
"meet  to  be  a  partaker  of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints 
in  light." 

In  considering  the  words  of  the  text,  let  us  attend : 

I.  To  the  manner  in  which  the  future  blessedness  of  the 
people  of  God  is  presented:  an  "  inheritance" — "the  inheri- 
tance of  the  saints" — "the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in 
light." 

The  portion  of  the  people  of  God  is  an  inheritance. 
They  are  called  elsewhere,  "heirs  of  salvation,"  "heirs  of 
the  kingdom."  "He  that  overcometh,  shall  inherit  all 
things."  Christ  will  say  to  his  people  in  the  last  day : 
"Inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world."  * 

Now  there  is  a  great  Gospel  truth  contained  in  this 
word  inheritance.  It  teaches  that  the  future  portion  of 
the  righteous,  is  not  their  purchase.  They  do  not  obtain 
it  on  the  basis  of  merit,  but  of  relationship.  They  do 
not  make  themselves  heirs;  but  they  are  made  heirs  by 
the  will  and  favor  of  their  Heavenly  Father.  A  father 
makes  a  son  his  heir,  not  because  the  son  has  merited 
the  inheritance,  but  because  he  is  a  son,  a  dear  son.  Thus 
it  is  written :  "  The  Spirit  beareth  witness  with  our 
spirit,  that  we  are  the  children  of  God.  And  if  children, 
then  heirs — heirs  of  God  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ."  | 

*  Heb.  i.  14;  James  ii.  5;  Rev.  xxi.  7;  Matt.  xxv.  34.  f  Rom.  xvi.  17. 


THE  BELIEVER'S  PORTION  IN  CHRIST.  373 

If  children  of  God,  then  heirs  of  God — children  by  adop- 
tion, taken  up  out  of  a  miserable  beggary,  and  adopted  as 
God's  dear  children,  and  thus  made  inheritors  of  him- 
self as  our  boundless  portion.  But  this  is  not  all:  "joint 
heirs  ivith  Christ."  If  God's  children,  then  Christ's  breth- 
ren ;  and  in  virtue  of  that  union  with  Christ,  we  inherit 
jointly  with  him.  In  ourselves,  we  can  have  no  title  to 
the  inheritance.  In  Christ,  the  only  begotten  Son  of 
God,  the  sons,  by  adoption,  have  a  most  perfect,  indefeas- 
ible title.  He,  in  his  mediatorial  office,  is  "heir  of  all 
things"*  We,  in  him,  shall  inherit  all  things.  Thus  it  is 
that  such  glorious  things  are  spoken  of  the  future  pos- 
session of  his  people.  "  To  him  that  overcometh,"  he 
saith,  "I  will  grant  to  sit  with  me  on  my  throne;"! 
not  merely  in  my  kingdom,  but  on  my  throne ;  not  merely 
to  share  the  blessings  of  my  kingdom,  but  to  share  the 
glory  of  its  king ;  my  brethren  in  glory,  my  joint  heirs 
in  all  that  I  inherit  of  my  Father.  Thus  it  is  written, 
that  "  his  people  shall  reign  with  him,"  "  shall  be  glori- 
fied together"  with  him,  and  that  God  doth  make  them 
"sit  together  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ  Jesus."  In 
the  last  day,  when  our  Lord  shall  be  receiving  his  peo- 
ple to  himself,  his  words  to  each  will  be,  "Enter  thou 
into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord,"  into  mine  own  joy,  which 
thou  dost  inherit,  because  thou  art  in  me  and  I  in  thee. 
And  when  he  shall  have  thus  gathered  together  all  his 
beloved  ones  that  believe  in  him,  to  be  with  him  where 
he  is,  to  be  glorified  with  him  and  in  him,  then  shall 
his  own  inheritance  of  joy  be  completed  in  their  salva- 
tion and  blessedness — all  having  come,  "in  the  unity 
of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God, 

*Hcb.i.  2.  fRev.iii.21 

I 


374  SERMON   XVII. 

unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of 
Christ."* 

And  thus  we  see  how  much  of  the  portion  of  the 
people  of  God  in  the  world  to  come,  is  described,  in  its 
being  called  an  inheritance.  It  teaches  how  that  por- 
tion is  all  of  grace ;  how  it  results  simply  from  our  hav- 
ing received  "the  adoption  of  sons;"  how  necessary  as 
the  evidence  of  our  title  is  "the  spirit  of  adoption  "  in  our 
hearts ;  and  how,  since  our  inheritance  is  a  joint  inherit- 
ance with  that  of  Christ,  we  must  look  only  to  his  merits 
for  the  title,  and  to  a  vital  union  with  him  through  faith 
that  we  may  share  therein.  It  teaches,  moreover,  what 
St.  Paul  calls  the  "riches  of  the  glory  "  of  that  inheritance. 
What  description  of  riches  of  glory  can  exceed  that  of 
simply  telling  us  we  shall  be  "joint  heirs  ivith  Christ?" 

We  have  in  the  text  another  feature  of  the  future  bliss- 
It  is  called  the  "  inheritance  of  the  saints" 

The  saints  are  the  "sanctified  in  Christ  Jesus."  To 
none  else  is  the  inheritance,  and  in  that  exclusiveness  do 
we  see  much  of  its  excellence.  It  is  thus  an  inheritance 
"undefiled"  None  are  there  but  those  whom  God  hath 
perfectly  sanctified.  All  there  have  "the  mind  of  Christ 
in  its  perfectness."  It  is  a  Church  which  he  hath  sancti- 
fied and  cleansed,  "  that  he  might  present  it  unto  himself, 
a  glorious  Church,  not  having  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such 
thing."  Sin  enters  not  into  that  inheritance,  sorrow  goes 
not  thither.  Tears  have  no  fountain  there.  "No  spot, 
nor  wrinkle,  nor  any  such  thing"  upon  the  white  raiment 
of  that  holy  fellowship.  Holy  ones  made  perfect  are  the 
only  dwellers  there.  "  The  former  things  are  passed 
away."  The  Church  of  Christ  will  not  then  be  as  now,  a 

*  Eph.  iv.  13. 
I 


THE  BELIEVER'S  PORTION  IN  CHRIST.  375 

church  defiled;  tied  to  a  body  of  death;  the  living  min- 
gled everywhere  with  the  dead ;  the  Christian  of  a  vital 
faith,  and  the  Christian  of  a  mere  lifeless  form,  united 
under  the  same  profession  of  discipleship;  the  children  of 
this  world  communing  outwardly  with  the  true,  but  im- 
perfect family  of  God.  Oh !  no.  Nor  will  the  true  Church 
be  then  so  far  defiled  as  to  contain  any  such  members  as 
its  best  are  in  this  life;  holy  indeed  essentially,  but  so 
imperfectly  holy ;  saints  indeed,  because  truly  sanctified 
in  Christ  Jesus — but  saints  conscious  of  coming  so  far 
short  in  holiness,  that  they  seem  to  themselves  to  be  all 
spot  and  wrinkle,  and  every  such  thing.  All  things  will 
then  have  become  new — not  only  as  being  holy,  but  as 
being  all  perfectly  holy.  "  The  spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect"  is  the  description  of  that  fellowship.  Oh  !  it  is 
precious  to  think  of  a  heritage  so  excluding  all  unholi- 
ness.  But  it  is  most  alarming  for  you,  my  hearers,  in 
whom  the  work  of  holiness  is  not  commenced. 

While  however  it  is  good  to  think  of  that  inheritance 
as  exclusive  of  all  but  saints,  we  love  to  think  of  it  as  in- 
clusive of  all  that  are  saints.  We  drop  our  denomination 
uniform  when  we  undress  at  the  grave.  It  belongs  to 
those  things  that  are  seen  and  are  temporal  We  enter 
into  eternal  life  in  no  raiment  but  the  white  robe  of  Christ, 
which  is  the  righteousness  of  all  that  are  sanctified  in  him, 
and  belongs  to  those  things  which  are  unseen  and  eternal. 
If  it  be  necessary  to  this  most  imperfect  state  of  the  Church, 
that  we  should  be  divided  as  we  now  are ;  it  is  good  to 
think  of  it  as  a  humiliation  which  can  last  only  while  we 
are  here.  The  grave  will  cover  it  with  our  corruptible 
bodies.  The  only  name  to  be  inquired  for,  in  ascertain- 


376  SERMON  XVII. 

ing  the  inheritors  of  Christ,  is  saints — the  sanctified — 
those  who  have  been  born  again  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and 
are  walking  in  newness  of  life.  Bring  them  from  the 
east,  and  west,  and  north,  and  south — from  all  generations. 
from  out  of  all  divisions  of  the  Christian  family,  from 
under  any  name,  or  form  !  Each  has  his  lot  in  that  good 
land.  All  inherit  by  the  same  title  in  Christ ;  and  there- 
fore all  " inherit  all  things"  In  the  poverty  of  earthly 
inheritances,  the  more  one  heir  obtains,  the  less  all  others 
have.  But  in  the  fullness  of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints. 
each  inherits  all,  as  if  there  were  no  heir  but  himself — or 
rather  because  all  inherit  as  one  body  in  Christ.  Oh !  it 
is  a  most  blessed  heritage  that  shall  assemble  together  in 
one  most  affectionate,  holy,  household  ;  such  a  boundless 
fellowship  of  the  people  of  God,  out  of  all  nations,  and 
kindreds,  and  tongues ;  all  seeing  eye  to  eye  ;  all  feeling 
heart  to  heart;  all  children  of  the  same  redeeming  grace; 
all  brethren  of  the  same  wondrous  adoption  in  Christ ;  all 
most  glorious  in  his  likeness;  "the  communion  of  saints" 
in  its  perfectness;  "the  Catholic  Church"  in  its  fullness; 
"the  general  assembly  and  Church  of  the  first-born,  whose 
names  are  written  in  heaven." 

But  there  is  another  feature  of  the  inheritance.  It  is 
the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light.  In  light !  What 
so  pure  as  perfect  light  ?  Whence  all  the  varied  beauties 
of  nature,  but  from  light  ?  Light  is  an  expression  for 
God  himself,  its  Maker.  "  God  is  light."  It  describes 
his  people  here;  they  are  "children  of  light"  It  de- 
scribes their  progressive  advancement  in  grace ;  their  path 
is  pictured  in  scripture  "  as  the  morning  light  which 
shineth  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day."  And  here 


THE  BELIEVER'S  PORTION  IN  CHRIST.  377 

it  describes  their  future  glory,  when  their  path  shall  have 
reached  meridian — the  perfect  day  ;  they  shall  be  saints 
in  light.  God  is  light ;  and  they  shall  be  like  him,  and 
see  him  as  he  is. 

But  how  shall  we  understand  this  description  of  the 
inheritance  ?  I  read  it  as  having  reference  to  the  compa- 
rison between  the  perfect  state  of  the  saints  in  heaven, 
in  point  of  spiritual  knowledge,  and  their  imperfect  state 
while  here  on  earth;  just  what  the  same  Apostle  referred 
to,  when  he  said,  "  Now  we  see  through  a  glass  darkly, 
but  then  face  to  face.  Now  we  know  in  part;  then 
shall  we  know  even  as  we  are  known."  Now  we  see  by 
aid  of  a  glass — a  revelation,  an  instrumental  medium. 
We  see  at  a  distance,  at  second  hand.  A  thousand  motes 
and  mists  hinder  our  vision  of  spiritual  and  eternal  things. 
Constant  vapors  rise  up  from  earth  and  our  own  evil 
natures,  to  obscure  our  vision.  At  best,  we  know  but  in 
part — nothing  entirely;  nor  can  we  know  how  little  we 
are  capable  of  knowing  of  that  boundless  field.  But 
then  we  shall  see  face  to  face,  in  open,  boundless  vision. 
We  shall  dwell  with  God,  in  the  light  which  no  man  can 
now  approach  unto.  We  shall  know  without  tuition,  see 
without  a  medium,  understand  without  interpreter — "saints 
in  light" 

Thus  I  understand  that  description  of  the  city  of  God 
in  the  Revelation  of  St.  John.  "  The  city  had  no  need 
of  the  sun,  neither  of  the  moon  to  shine  in  it ;  for  the  glory 
of  God  did  lighten  it,  and  the  Lamb  is  the  light  there- 
of." * 

God  is  light — its  fountain,  its  fullness;  and  what  need  of 

*Rev.  xxi.  23,  24. 


378  SERMON   XVII. 

lesser  lights  in  heaven,  when  he  is  there  ?  They  will  need 
no  sun  nor  moon ;  in  other  words,  no  intervening  medium 
of  communication  from  God  to  them.  Their  communion 
with  "  God  and  the  Lamb  "  will  be  "face  to  face."  Notv, 
we  do  need  the  aid  of  the  sun  and  moon — we  depend  upon 
secondary  lights.  In  this  world  we  must  walk  by  faith, 
not  by  sight,  and  must  have  the  aid  of  means  of  grace.  What 
are  the  ministers  of  the  word ;  what  the  sacraments  of  the 
Church ;  what  the  revelation  contained  in  the  scriptures, 
but  parts  of  a  system  of  instrumental  secondary  lights, 
teaching  us  that  we  see  not  yet  face  to  face ;  that  however 
great  our  knowledge  and  privileges,  compared  with  what 
they  would  have  been  without  those  aids ;  however  suffi- 
cient and  most  precious  our  revelation  for  all  the  present 
necessities  of  the  soul,  we  are  far  yet  from  the  perfect 
day.  Ministers,  and  sacramental  signs,  and  a  written  in- 
spired word,  are  marks  of  the  Church  in  the  wilderness. 
God  is  with  her,  but  in  the  pillar  of  cloud.  They  are 
marks  of  a  state  of  grace  not  yet  complete.  God  is  com- 
municating with  his  people,  but  it  is  from  behind  the  veil 
of  the  inner  sanctuary.  But  the  Church  in  glory  will  have 
no  need  of  human  ministry,  nor  of  visible  signs  of  spirit- 
ual grace,  nor  of  an  inspired  book,  revealing,  under  the 
imperfections  of  human  language,  the  things  of  the  Spirit 
of  God.  The  saints  being  "  heirs  of  God,"  their  portion 
will  be  therefore  his  fullness.  God  is  light — original,  per- 
fect, boundless  light.  They  will  commune  directly  with 
that  light,  that  holiness,  that  truth,  that  infinite  knowl- 
edge, that  boundless  wisdom.  They  will  be  saints  in  light, 
because  saints  in  the  full  vision  of  God.  In  contempla- 
ting that  blessed  estate,  Isaiah  dipped  his  pen  in  the  same 


THE  BELIEVER'S  PORTION  IN  CHRIST.  379 

effulgence  as  St.  John,  and  wrote  :  "  The  sun  shall  be  no 
more  thy  light  by  day,  neither  shall  the  moon  give  light 
unto  thee,  but  the  Lord  shall  be  unto  thee  an  everlasting 
light,  and  thy  God  thy  glory,  and  the  days  of  thy  mourn- 
ing shall  be  ended."^  How  sweet  that  sentence,  "the  days 
of  tluj  mourning  shall  be  ended."  St  John's  account  of  it 
is  :  "  God  shall  ivipe  aivay  all  tears  from  their  eyes."  We 
know  not  which  description  is  the  most  engaging — that  of 
the  evangelical  prophet,  or  of  the  prophetic  evangelist? 
Neither  could  speak  of  the  light  of  that  inheritance  of 
the  saints,  without  telling  how  it  would  banish  all  the  sor- 
rows which  sin  has  brought  upon  our  hearts,  even  to  the 
drying  up  of  the  last  tear;  just  as  all  the  remnants  of 
night,  even  to  the  last  drop  of  dew,  are  wiped  from  the 
face  of  nature  by  the  radiance  of  the  sun. 

But  we  must  come  to  the  second  division  of  our  dis- 
course. St.  Paul,  in  the  text,  unites  with  his  fellow  Chris- 
tians in  giving  thanks  unto  the  Father,  because  he  had 
made  them  meet,  or  fit — qualified  in  spirit,  to  be  partakers 
of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints.  And  from  this  we  take 
our  second  head. 

II.  We  cannot  partake  in  that  blessedness,  unless  we 
are  first,  by  the  transforming  grace  of  God,  in  this  present 
life,  made  meet  for  it. 

One  would  suppose  it  could  hardly  be  needful  to  use 
many  words  to  demonstrate  so  plain  a  truth.  We  really 
partake  in  nothing  unless  we  are  meet  to  be  partakers.  A 
sick  man  cannot  partake  in  a  sumptuous  feast.  It  will 
not  be  a  feast  to  him;  he  is  not  meet  for  it.  A  man 
without  an  ear  attuned  to  musical  sounds,  may  sit  in  the 

*Isaiah  Ix.  20,  21. 


380  SERMON  XVII. 

midst  of  the  richest  harmonies;  but  he  cannot  partake  in 
them,  however  he  may  hear  them.  Take  a  man  of  gro- 
velling mind,  and  place  him  in  a  circle  of  the  most  refined 
and  intellectual;  bid  him  associate  his  mind  with  theirs. 
You  might  as  well  command  the  deaf  to  hear,  or  the  blind 
to  see.  How  irksome  that  company!  You  easily  per- 
ceive the  reason.  His  mind  is  not  fitted,  his  tastes  are 
not  qualified,  for  such  privileges.  Well,  then,  suppose  I 
should  find  a  little  company  of  saints  made  perfect,  come 
down  from  heaven,  on  some  errand  from  God,  to  earth, 
and  keeping  here  for  a  little  while  their  endless  Sabbath 
of  holiness  and  happiness,  as  they  keep  it  in  heaven; 
and  suppose  I  should  take  a  man  of  the  world,  such  as  we 
meet  with  everywhere — his  affections  all  running  upon 
earthly  things,  all  confined  to  earthly  things,  and  set  him 
down  in  that  circle,  and  say  to  him,  "Now,  partake  in 
their  happiness.  You  think  that  all  you  need  to  make 
you  happy  hereafter,  is  only  to  be  admitted  to  heaven. 
Try  !  Here  is  a  little  of  heaven;  join  those  blessed  ones 
in  their  joys,  in  their  sweet  communion  with  God;  in  their 
overflowing  love  to  Christ;  in  their  praises  to  him  that 
loved  them,  and  washed  them  from  their  sins  in  his  own 
blood,  and  hath  made  them  kings  and  priests  unto  God." 
Why,  one  might  as  well  speak  to  the  dead.  Not  a  chord 
is  there  in  his  heart  to  harmonize  with  their  joys.  He  is 
all  strange  in  his  sympathies  to  them,  and  they  to  him. 
How  would  he  like  to  have  nothing  else  but  their  company 
and  their  pleasures,  with  his  own  present  dispositions, 
forever  and  ever?  What  heaven  would  that  be  to  him? 
His  whole  moral  being  must  be  changed,  before  he  can  be 
meet  to  partake  with  the  saints  of  God  on  high  in  their 
holy  blessedness.  And  so  long  as  that  change  is  not 


SERMON   XVII.  381 

wrought,  no  decree  of  God  is  needed  to  shut  him  out  of 
the  presence  of  his  glory,  or  the  fellowship  of  the  heaven- 
ly host.  A  decree  powerful  enough  is  written  in  the 
man's  own  affections.  His  own  heart  excludes  him.  A 
mere  title  to  heaven  would  not  help  him.  What  if  he 
should  even  be  allowed  to  come  to  the  table  of  that  hea- 
venly feast  ?  He  could  not  partake.  He  would  sit  there 
all  deaf,  and  dumb,  and  dead,  amidst  boundless  life. 

My  dear  hearers,  let  us  well  understand  what  consti- 
tutes salvation.  Two  things  are  essential,  and  both  are 
brought  to  view  in  the  connection  of  our  text.  St.  Paul, 
speaking  of  Jesus,  says :  "  In  whom  we  have  redemption 
through  his  blood,  even  the  forgiveness  of  sins"  That  is 
one  of  the  two — forgiveness  of  sins.  It  opens  the  door  to 
the  habitation  of  the  saints  in  light.  Very  precious,  in- 
deed, but  it  is  not  all.  Then,  in  the  text,  we  have  those 
who  have  obtained  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  that  open  door, 
now  giving  thanks  for  another  thing,  namely,  that  they 
have  been  made  "  meet  to  be  partakers  of  the  inheritance" 
to  which  that  door  admits  them.  That  is  the  second  of 
the  two  great  gifts  which  make  up  our  salvation.  The  one 
removes  the  barrier  on  the  side  of  the  broken  law;  the 
other,  the  barrier  on  the  side  of  our  own  corrupt,,  carnal 
nature.  The  first  is  taken  away  in  God's  being  reconciled 
to  us  through  the  mediation  of  Christ.  The  second  is 
taken  away  in  our  hearts  being  reconciled  to  God  by  the 
renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  They  come  inseparably. 
Neither  is  ever  without  the  other.  They  come  both  out 
of  the  great  sacrifice  on  the  cross.  Faith  draws  both 
together  from  him  who  "  was  wounded  for  our  transgi^es- 
sions,  and  by  whose  stripes  we  are  healed  " — "  the  water 


382  SERMON  XVII. 

and  the  blood."  Whom  God  justifies,  he  also  sanctifies. 
In  whom  these  two  are  united,  the  forgiveness  of  sins  and 
the  meetness  for  the  inheritance,  in  them  is  salvation. 
They  are  saints.  In  whom  both  are  perfected,  salvation 
is  consummated.  They  are  saints  made  perfect. 

But  what  is  that  meetness  for  the  inheritance  of  the 
saints?  It  is  surely  likeness  to  the  inheritance.  It  is 
conformity  of  our  affections  to  the  nature  of  the  blessed- 
ness. Is  that  blessedness  the  presence  and  glory  of  God  ? 
Then  the  meetness  for  it  is  to  be  holy,  since  God  is  holy. 
Is  it  a  joint  inheritance  with  Christ  ?  Then  to  be  meet 
for  it,  is  to  be  like  Christ ;  to  have  his  mind  in  us,  that 
his  joy  may  be  in  us.  It  is  to  be  assimilated  to  him  in 
our  affections,  that  we  may  be  associated  with  him  in  his 
heritage.  It  is  to  be  not  of  the  world,  even  as  he  is  not 
of  the  world.  It  is  to  have  our  affections  set  on  things 
above,  "where  Christ  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  God." 
Ic  is  to  be  "dead  indeed  unto  sin,  and  alive  unto  God 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  It  is  to  love  the  will 
and  service  of  God  as  our  present  happiness;  to  know  b}r 
our  present  experience  the  sweetness  of  communion  with 
him  as  his  own  children ;  to  have  such  a  sense  of  the  pre- 
ciousness  of  Christ  to  our  souls,  that  we  can  participate 
with  some  degree  of  real  consciousness  in  that  declaration 
of  the  early  believers:  "Whom,  having  not  seen,  we 
love ;  in  whom  though  now  we  see  him  not,  yet  believing, 
we  rejoice,  with  joy  unspeakable,  and  full  of  glory." 

Vast,  indeed,  is  the  difference  between  that  meetness 
for  the  inheritance  which  believers  in  their  highest  sancti- 
fication,  this  side  the  grave,  possess,  and  that  of  those  who 
have  not  entered  into  possession.  It  seems,  indeed,  that 


THE  BELIEVER'S  PORTION  IN  CHRIST.  383 

it  must  take  a  mighty  work  of  grace  to  make  any  Chris- 
tian now  on  earth,  with  all  our  infirmities  and  remaining 
sinfulness,  capable  of  the  presence  of  God  in  his  mani- 
fested glory.  So  it  must,  unquestionably.  The  eye  that 
has  never  seen  "the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God"  but 
"  through  a  glass  darkly,"  must  needs  undergo  a  mighty 
change  of  capacity  before  it  is  capable  of  looking  on  all 
those  wonderful  and  glorious  mysteries,  face  to  face.  The 
heart  that  has  never  communed  with  the  holiness  and 
majesty  of  God,  but  on  this  side  the  veil,  must  needs  be 
prepared  with  a  vast  measure  of  new  adaptation  before  it 
can  bear  to  be  introduced  to  the  presence  of  that  unveil- 
ed, infinite  holiness  and  glory,  on  which  even  the  seraphim 
look  not  with  open  face. 

But  the  change  required  is  only  like  that  of  a  child 
that  is  now  meet  essentially  for  the  inheritance  of  his 
father,  because  he  is  a  true  child,  with  all  the  faculties  of 
a  child ;  but  who  must  attain  to  manhood,  and  have  all 
those  faculties  matured,  before  he  can  be  ready  to  enter 
into  full  possession  of  the  inheritance.  What  would  you 
say  of  the  meetness  of  an  infant  to  possess,  and  manage, 
and  enjoy,  a  magnificent  estate  inherited  from  his  father  ? 
But  in  one  most  important  sense  that  infant  is  meet.  He 
has  the  mind — he  has  the  faculties.  All  he  wants  is, 
their  development,  their  ripening,  their  manhood.  The 
essential  preparation  he  has.  It  is  only  the  perfecting 
he  needs.  You  have  not  to  change  what  he  is,  but  simply 
to  mature  it. 

And  thus  we  understand  the  present  raeetness  of  the 
Christian  in  the  imperfectness  of  his  earthly  state,  for  the 
presence  of  the  glory  of  God  in  heaven.  What  though 


384  SERMON   XVII. 

but  the  youngest  child  in  grace,  however  old  in  years  — 
just  born  again  of  the  Spirit — -just  beginning  the  experi- 
ence of  newness  of  life — every  affection  and  faculty  of  his 
heart  in  infant  feebleness,  but  all  nevertheless  in  living 
reality?  Great  indeed  is  the  growth  he  must  make,  now 
that  he  has  just  opened  his  eyes  upon  such  light  as  conies 
to  us  here  in  this  moonlight  night,  before  he  can  be  quali- 
fied for  the  light  of  that  city,  where  moon  and  sun  are 
invisible  by  reason  of  the  light  of  the  unveiled  counte- 
nance of  God. 

But  still  we  can  join  that  child  in  grace  in  giving  thanks 
unto  the  Father  who  hath  (already)  made  him  "  meet  to 
be  a  partaker  with  the  saints  in  light."  He  is  meet,  be- 
cause he  is  God's  regenerate  and  adopted  child.  He  is 
meet,  because  he  has  all  the  mind,  and  heart,  and  sympa- 
thies, and  relations,  of  a  child  of  God.  He  is  meet,  essen- 
tially, though  not  maturely.  The  time  to  enter  upon  the 
inheritance  has  not  yet  come.  He  who  has  now  given 
him  the  spirit  of  adoption,  and  made  him  his  child,  when 
that  time  does  come,  will  give  him  the  spirit,  and  stature, 
and  perfectness,  of  a  full-grown  son,  that  he  may  inherit 
the  kingdom  prepared  for  him.  As  his  day,  so  shall  his 
grace  be.  Meanwhile,  his  calling  is  that  of  a  child  of  God 
in  minority  and  pupilage  ;  to  see  the  inheritance  only  in 
reversion,  and  in  the  distance  ;  to  live  in  the  hope  of  it, 
and  to  be  educated  for  it ;  and  God  giveth  him  grace  for 
that  need.  When  his  calling  shall  be  to  go  hence  from 
the  nursery  of  spiritual  childhood,  and  take  his  place  in 
the  full  citizenship  of  « the  commonwealth  of  Israel ; "  to 
stand  in  the  General  Assembly  and  Church  of  the  First- 
born" in  heaven;  to  minister  as  one  of  the  "royal priest- 


THE  BELIEVER'S  PORTION  IN  CHRIST.  385 

hood"  in  the  immediate  presence  of  the  Majesty  on 
High,  then  also  shall  his  grace  be  as  his  day.  His  meet- 
ness  will  grow  with  his  privilege.  When  God  shall  take 
him  to  the  highest  place,  he  will  bring  forth  the  best  robe 
and  put  it  on  him. 

Oh!  but  what  a  difference  there  is  between  the  change 
which  that  child  of  God  must  undergo  to  make  his  pres- 
ent feebleness  of  holy  attainment  meet  for  the  fullness  of 
the  future  inheritance ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  change 
that  must  take  place  in  that  man,  in  whom  not  a  feature, 
not  an  affection,  not  a  sympathy,  not  a  faculty,  of  the 
child  of  God  has  ever  found  a  place.  In  the  former  case, 
it  is  only  a  change  from  morning  to  noon — the  day  is  the 
same.  It  is  only  a  transition  from  the  child  to  the  man  ; 
the  being  is  the  same.  But  in  the  latter,  it  must  be  a 
change  from  night  to  day,  from  death  to  life ;  from  the 
man  who  is  in  no  sense  a  child  of  God,  to  the  man  who 
is  in  everything  his  living,  loving  child.  In  the  former 
case,  death  is  the  certain  introduction  to  the  full  comple- 
tion of  the  glorious  advancement.  In  the  latter,  death, 
finding  the  essential  change  not  made,  sets  the  seal  to 
the  certainty  of  its  never  being  made  to  all  eternity. 

And  now,  would  you  be  told  how  that  meetness  for  the 
inheritance  of  the  saints  is  obtained?  I  answer,  it  is  no 
endowment  of  our  natural  state.  All  the  meetness  of 
this  fallen  and  depraved  nature  of  ours  is  for  the  inheri- 
tance of  the  unholy  in  darkness  everlasting.  The  mind 
that  is  in  man  by  nature,  and  the  mind  that  is  in  the 
wicked  and  lost  in  hell,  is  essentially  the  same  mind;  just 
as  the  mind  of  the  Christian  here,  and  of  the  saint  with 
God,  is  essentially  the  same.  I  doubt  not  there  is  an 
25 


386  SERMON  XVII. 

awful  maturity  of  wickedness  in  hell,  for  which  the  un- 
regenerate  in  this  world  are  not  prepared  in  point  of 
present  growth.  It  would  shock  them,  were  it  now  seen 
by  the  worst  of  them:  just  as  in  "the  brightness  of  the 
Father's  glory,"  as  seen  by  the  saints  in  light,  there  is  a 
manifestation  for  which  the  regenerate  on  earth,  in  point 
of  maturity  of  grace,  are  not  meet.  But  in  every  unre- 
generate  man  here,  there  is  "the  carnal  mind,"  which  "is 
enmity  against  God,  and  is  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God, 
neither  indeed  can  be."  That  is  all  that  is  needed.  The 
meetness  for  the  fellowship  of  the  lost  is  thus  in  him 
essentially.  It  needs  but  development.  Change  of 
worlds,  from  a  place  of  hope  to  a  prison  of  despair ;  from 
a  condition  of  a  thousand  corrective  and  restraining  influ- 
ences, to  one  where  none  exist,  and  where  every  pent-up 
corruption  of  the  heart  is  set  loose,  and  set  on  fire,  to 
range  and  rage  without  limit — such  change  will  soon  con- 
summate the  meetness  of  a  lost  soul,  for  all  the  wickedness 
and  misery  of  the  outer  darkness. 

Do  you  ask  again,  whence  comes  that  essential  meet- 
ness  for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints,  which  I  have  de- 
scribed as  the  possession  of  every  child  of  God  in  this 
world  ?  The  answer  is  in  our  text.  St.  Paul,  with  his 
fellow  Christians,  said,  "  Giving  thanks  unto  the  Father, 
which  hath  made  us  meet/'  &c.  They  ascribed  all  they  had 
of  preparation  for  the  inheritance,  to  the  power  of  God. 
He  made  them  what  they  were,  as  Christians.  "  We  are 
his  workmanship,  (they  said)  created  in  Christ  Jesus." 

So  mighty  a  change  as  that  which  forms  out  of  such  a 
being  as  man,  in  all  the  depravity  of  his  natural  heart,  a 
being  meet  to  associate  with  Christ  and  his  saints,  they 


THE  BELIEVER'S  PORTION  IN  CHRIST.  387 

could  ascribe  to  no  power  less  than  God's.  He  who  crea- 
ted man  originally  in  his  own  likeness,  that  he  might 
qualify  him  for  his  own  fellowship,  now  that  we  have  lost 
that  likeness,  must  by  the  same  power  create  us  anew,  or 
we  cannot  be  heirs  of  God.  Hence  that  strong  declara- 
tion, "If  any  man  be  in  Christ;"  if  out  of  all  mankind 
there  be  a  true  Christian,  a  child  of  God,  a  joint  heir  with 
Christ,  " he  is  a  neiv  creature"  The  work  that  made  him 
what  he  is,  was  a  new  creation.  The  power  that  made 
him  what  he  is,  was  the  power  that  created  the  heavens 
and  the  earth. 

Of  the  like  testimony  are  these  joyful  words  of  St. 
Peter:  "Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  who,  according  to  his  abundant  mercy  hath 
begotten  us  again  unto  a  lively  hope,  to  an  inheritance 
incorruptible,  and  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away." 
What  prepared  them  for  such  an  inheritance?  They 
were  "begotten  again."  Who  accomplished  that  new  birth 
in  them  ?  "  The  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,"  in  his  abundant  mercy.  That  new  birth  made 
them  his  children.  That  relation  of  children  connected 
them  with  the  inheritance.  "  If  children,  then  heirs." 
Invert  this  sentence  and  it  will  be  equally  true  and  im- 
portant— If  heirs,  then  children.  Add — If  children,  then 
begotten  again  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  Add  further — If 
not  so  begotten  again,  then  ye  cannot  Bee  the  kingdom 
of  God. 

Oh,  what  alarming  conclusions  necessarily  follow  from 
all  we  have  said,  in  regard  to  the  hopelessness  of  those  of 
you,  my  hearers,  in  whom  no  such  inward,  transforming 
work  of  grace  is  found !  How  painful  to  be  obliged  to 


388  SERMON   XVII. 

draw  such  lines  of  exclusion  from  the  blessed  heritage  in 
prospect.  But  we  have  this  alleviation  and  comfort,  that 
the  line  is  not  yet  so  drawn  as  never  to  be  crossed.  You 
that  find  it  marking  you  off  from  the  fellowship  of  the 
kingdom,  you  may  cross  it  yet,  if  you  will  strive ;  the 
hand  of  God  is  outstretched  to  lift  you  over  when  you 
strive.  And  it  is  by  this  painful  plainness  in  drawing  that 
line  before  you,  and  showing  where  it  places  you,  that 
we  hope,  by  the  blessing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  contrib- 
ute to  the  raising  up  of  a  fixed  determination  in  your 
hearts,  that  by  the  grace  of  God  you  will  overpass  it, 
and  so  gain  a  place  among  the  inheritors  of  life. 

But  what  precious  encouragement  and  assurance  there 
is  in  all  we  have  said,  to  those  who,  having  the  love  of 
God  in  them,  and  habitually  loving  his  ways,  are  thus 
prepared  essentially  to  be  with  him  in  glory.  Their  pleas- 
ure of  heart  in  his  word  and  worship,  and  whole  service ; 
their  love  of  holiness,  and  earnestness  to  have  more  holi- 
ness, is  "the  earnest  of  the  Spirit."  It  witnesses  with 
their  spirit,  that  they  are  children,  and  therefore  heirs  of 
God.  The  Lord  "gives  grace  and  glory;"  glory,  the  ma- 
turity of  grace;  grace,  the  promise  and  preparation  for 
glory;  both  where  there  is  either.  The  one,  the  first 
fruits  of  the  Spirit ;  the  other,  the  fullness  of  the  ripe 
harvest  of  grace.  As  sure  as  we  have  now  the  one,  we 
shall  hereafter  possess  the  other.  The  heart  that  ascends 
to  God  amid  the  infirmities  of  the  flesh,  will  go  to  God 
when  the  flesh  shall  encumber  it  no  more.  To  be  meet 
for  the  inheritance,  is  the  assurance  of  obtaining  it.  He 
that  fashions  you  for  it,  will  certainly  take  you  to  it. 


THE  BELIEVER'S  PORTION  IN  CHRIST.  389 

Then  be  joyful  in  God,  and  praise  him  for  the  riches  of 
his  grace  !  So  run  that  ye  may  obtain.  So  seek  that  ye 
may  find.  So  press  toward  the  mark  of  the  prize,  that 
ye  may  be  sure  of  the  blessedness  promised  to  him  that 
endure th  to  the  end.  Amen. 


SEMON  XVIII. 


THE  PRESENT  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  DEAD  IN  CHRIST. 


KEY.  xiv.   13. 

•''  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  saying  unto  me,  Write,  Blessed  are  the  dead 
which  die  in  the  Lord,  from  henceforth  ;  Yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they 
may  rest  from  their  labors,  and  their  works  do  follow  them." 

THE  dead!  Where  are  they?  In  what  state  are  they? 
What  innumerable  connexions  unite  them  to  us!  They 
have  gone  where  we  are  soon  to  go.  They  are,  as  we  are 
soon  to  be.  Especially  the  dead  in  Christ' — what  bonds 
unite  them  to  those  here  who  are  alive  in  Christ — all  one 
family  still !  What  is  their  state  ?  Where  are  they  ?  It 
is  of  them  the  declaration  of  our  text  was  written.  It 
is  of  the  dead  as  they  now  are  before  the  resurrection, 
and  not  as  they  will  be  after  the  resurrection,  that  the 
text  speaks.  After  the  resurrection,  they  will  be  the 
living  as  they  never  were  before;  not  only  alive  in  the 
body,  as  well  as  in  the  spirit,  and  alive  for  evermore; 
but  alive  in  a  power  and  perfection  of  life  altogether 
new.  To  them,  in  that  day,  there  will  be  "no  more 
death."  It  is  therefore  of  the  disembodied  state  of  the 
people  of  God,  to  whom,  as  regards  their  bodies,  there  is 
yet  death,  that  the  text  speaks.  Their  "earthly  house  of 
this  tabernacle  "  has  been  dissolved.  They  are  "absent 


THE  PRESENT  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  DEAD  IN  CHRIST.      391 

from  the  body."  What  a  world  of  intelligent,  spiritual 
beings  are  the  disembodied  dead !  Think  that  not  one  soul 
that  ever  came  into  life  since  the  human  family  began  its 
generations,  has  ceased  to  live.  They  have  passed  out  of 
sight  to  us — they  have  passed  out  of  this  life — this  life  in 
the  body;  this  life  of  preparation  for  another;  but  not  one 
ever  passed  out  of  life.  What  an  inconceivable  multi- 
tude are  the  millions  that  now  people  this  earth!  But 
what  are  they  to  those  who  once  were  here  and  are  now 
gone  away,  and  are  living,  in  thought,  in  recollection,  in 
happiness  or  suffering,  as  really  as  any  of  us.  What  tides 
of  living  men  have  the  passing  generations  been  pouring 
into  that  world,  millions  on  millions  since  death  began,  and 
the  first  grave  was  made.  On  one  side  or  other,  of  one 
great  line  of  separation,  they  are  all  found.  It  is  the 
same  precisely  that  now  separates  into  two  great  divisions 
all  that  live  yet  in  the  flesh.  It  is  the  only  distinction 
among  us  that  will  survive  us  when  we  are  gone  hence. 
High  or  low,  princes  or  peasants,  in  riches  or  in  beggary ; 
all  such  distinctions  perish  when  we  are  laid  in  the  grave. 
But  there  is  one  that  lasts  forever  and  runs  its  line  among 
the  disembodied  that  are  waiting  the  resurrection,  as  uni- 
versally as  it  now  divides  this  congregation.  The  two 
classes  into  which  it  separates  us  here,  are  they  that  are 
in  Christ^  and  they  that  are  not  in  Christ.  The  classes 
beyond  the  grave,  are  they  that  died  in  Christ,  and  they 
that  died  out  of  Christ.  There  is  not  a  soul  in  that 
world  that  comes  not  under  one  or  the  other  of  those 
denominations.  We  are  led  by  the  text  to  speak  of  the 
present  state  of  those  who  belong  to  the  former  class — 
the  dead  in  Christ — those  "who  died  in  the  Lord" 


392  SERMON  XVIII. 

I.   What  is  it  to  die  in  the  Lord  ? 

It  is  the  last  act  on  earth  of  "being  in  the  Lord.  It  is 
to  cease  our  Christian  race  as  we  began  it,  and  as  we  ran  it; 
it  is  to  be  found  when  the  messenger  of  death  comes  for  us, 
just  where  every  call  of  duty,  every  trying  providence, 
every  temptation,  every  mercy,  ever  since  we  began  the 
life  of  faith,  found  us — in  Christ.  It  is  not  the  getting 
into  some  new  shelter ;  it  is  not  the  putting  on  some  new 
armor;  it  is  not  the  coming  of  the  Christian  into  some 
new  relation  to  Christ.  It  is  the  enduring  to  the  end,  of 
a  relation  formed  when  the  Christian  life  began.  It  is  the 
abiding  of  the  soul  in  the  ark  which  it  entered  when  first 
it  renounced  the  world.  It  is  the  having  on  of  that  whole 
armor  of  God  which  we  put  on  when  first  we  became  sol- 
diers of  Christ.  It  is  the  Christian  going  through  the 
valley  and  shadow  of  death,  precisely  as  he  went  through 
the  dangers,  and  trials,  and  sorrows,  and  duties,  of  this  mor- 
tal life,  saying,  "  The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd,  I  shall  not 
want;"  leaning  on  the  hand  of  that  Shepherd,  and  saying, 
"Thy  rod  and  thy  staff,  they  comfort  me."  It  is  faith  over- 
coming, in  the  last  conflict,  precisely  as  it  overcame  in 
every  precious  conflict  of  the  Christian's  pilgrimage — the 
same  faith,  resting  on  the  same  promises,  embracing  the 
Saviour  just  as  ever  before;  passing  through  the  Jordan 
as  it  passed  through  the  Heel  Sea  and  the  wilderness, 
"  looking  unto  Jesus"  It  is  the  child  of  God  falling  asleep 
in  the  same  arms  of  redeeming  love  in  which  he  was  al- 
ways embraced,  and  where  always  he  was  safe  in  the  peace 
of  God.  But  we  must  be  more  particular.  "  There  is 
now  no  condemnation  (saith  the  Apostle)  to  them  that  are 
in  Christ  Jesus"  In  Christ  and  a  Christian  are  the  same 


THE  PRESENT  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  DEAD  IN  CHRIST.       393 

state.  We  have  no  beginning  of  Christian  life,  we  have 
no  nourishment  of  Christian  life,  none  of  its  consolations, 
none  of  its  hopes,  none  of  its  strength,  none  of  its  armor, 
except  we  be  in  Christ  Jesus.  But  once  there,  we  are  in 
possession  of  all  that  belongs  to  the  preciousness  of  the 
Gospel ;  condemnation  is  no  more ;  there  is  grace  sufficient 
for  us  to  live  by,  and  die  by ;  and  we  have  the  inheritance 
incorruptible  reserved  in  heaven  for  us — all  in  Christ,  and 
all  ours  because  we  are  in  him. 

Is  Christ  our  refuge  ?  We  are  in  him  when  we  flee  to 
him,  as  Noah  fled  to  the  ark.  Is  Christ  our  Surety  and 
Advocate?  We  are  in  him  when  we  commit  the  cause  of 
our  souls  before  the  judgment  seat  to  him,  and  thus 
embrace  him  as  our  Representative.  Is  Christ  our  Life, 
whereby  alone  we  can  live  a  life  of  holiness  unto  God  ? 
We  are  in  him,  as  the  branch  is  in  the  vine,  when  we 
receive  his  Spirit,  and  are  thus  made  to  live  by  his  life. 
Is  Christ  our  Righteousness?  We  are  in  him  when,  being 
united  to  him  by  receiving  his  Spirit,  all  his  merits  as  our 
Mediator,  his  death  for  our  sins,  and  his  obedience  unto  the 
law,  are  imputed  unto  us,  and  so  we  are  clothed  upon 
with  his  righteousness,  as  our  justification  before  God. 
That,  on  the  part  of  Christ,  which  thus  unites  us  to  him  as 
our  Refuge,  Surety,  Advocate,  Righteousness  and  Life,  is 
his  Spirit  abiding  in  us.  That,  on  our  part,  which  unites 
us  to  him,  is  OUT  faith.  The  life  which  the  Christian  lives 
in  the  flesh,  is  "a  life  of  faith  on  the  Son  of  God"— all 
that  Christian  life,  from  its  first  breath  to  its  last,  from  its 
first  partaking  of  Christ,  to  its  departure  in  Christ;  in  its 
inward  partaking  of  his  Spirit  and  its  outward  manifesta- 
tion of  his  grace ;  in  all  its  works,  and  hopes,  and  strength, 


394  SERMON   XVIII. 

and  growth,  its  conflicts  and  final  victory — all  is  simply  a 
life  of  faith,  and  of  faith  leaning  on,  uniting  unto,  and 
deriving  from  Christ.  Nothing  else  on  our  part  makes  us 
to  be  in  Christ.  That  faith  begun,  we  are  in  him,  before 
God.  Thus  is  the  sinner  a  Christian.  His  continuance 
as  a  Christian  is  simply  the  continued  exercise  of  that 
same  faith.  His  progress  in  the  Christian  life  is  just  the 
increase  of  the  strength  of  that  same  faith.  It  is  faith 
working  more  and  more  by  love,  and  exhibiting  the  fruits 
of  the  Spirit  more  and  more  maturely  and  abundantly. 
It  is  the  daily  repetition  of  precisely  those  exercises  of 
faith  wherein  the  Christian  life  began;  each  increasing  with 
its  exercise,  trusting  more  simply  in  Jesus,  drawing  upon 
his  grace  more  freely,  obeying  his  will  more  impli- 
citly, walking  more  closely  with  him,  living  more  faith- 
fully unto  him,  and  thus  till  death.  You  remember  that 
bright  constellation  of  patriarchs,  and  prophets,  and  mar- 
tyrs, which  St.  Paul  has  grouped  together  so  beautifully 
in  the  eleventh  chapter  of  Hebrews,  as  illustrations  of 
faith.  You  remember  how  he  begins  with,  "By  faith, 
Abel  offered  unto  God  a  more  excellent  sacrifice  than 
Cain."  By  faith,  (he  goes  on  to  say,)  Enoch,  and  Noah, 
and  Abraham,  and  Moses,  and  a  great  multitude,  of  whom 
the  world  was  not  worthy,  lived,  and  labored,  and  denied 
themselves,  and  suffered,  and  fainted  not.  These  all  lived 
1)ij  faith.  The  apostle  sets  down  all  their  faithful  exam- 
ples to  a  life  of  faith.  Then  he  adds :  "  These  all  died  in 
faith"  I  know  not  a  better  illustration  of  the  connection 
between  a  Christian  death  and  a  Christian  life  ;  between 
living  in  the  Lord  and  dying  in  the  Lord.  Where  faith 
led  them,  death  found  them.  On  the  field  of  their  war- 


THE  PRESENT  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  DEAD  IN  CHRIST.      395 

fare,  in  the  armor  of  their  confidence,  ready  for  a  longer 
contest,  if  duty  called,  they  died.  The  promises  that  sus- 
tained them  in  the  trials  of  life,  were  their  strong  consola- 
tion in  the  conflict  of  death.  Their  faithful  death  was 
just  the  continuance  of  their  life  of  faith,  uniting  it  to  the 
life  of  eternal  blessedness  with  God. 

But  the  same  Apostle  has  in  another  place  so  striking 
an  illustration  of  the  doctrine  we  wish  to  impress  on  your 
minds,  that  we  cannot  refrain  from  presenting  it.  You 
know  his  stirring  account,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians, 
of  his  own  earnestness  on  the  very  subject  before  us, 
namely,  that  he  might  die  in  the  Lord.  You  remember 
that  verse :  "  For  whom  I  have  suffered  the  loss  of  all 
things,  and  count  them  but  dung,  that  I  might  win  Christ, 
and  be  found  in  him.'"  Found  in  him  !  Here,  you  per- 
ceive, is  precisely  what  we  are  speaking  of.  To  die  in 
the  Lord,  is  at  death  to  be  found  in  him.  Paul  valued  all 
things  as  utterly  worthless,  in  comparison  with  that. 
Does  he  tell  us  what  it  is  to  be  found  in  him  ?  Yes;  in  the 
very  next  words :  "  That  I  might  win  Christ,  and  be  found 
in  him,  not  having  mine  oivn  righteousness,  ivhich  is  of  the 
laiv;  but  that  ivhich  is  through  the  faith  of  Christ,  the 
righteousness  which  is  of  God,  ~by  faitli"*  In  these  words, 
you  see,  brethren,  two  descriptions  of  righteousness — one, 
our  own,  which  is  of  the  law ;  our  own  obedience,  whatever 
it  be,  to  the  law  of  God;  our  own  works  and  merits  under 
the  law;  the  other,  that  ivhich  is  through  the  faith  of 
Christ,  the  righteousness  which  is  of  God,  ly  faith ;  in  other 
words,  precisely  the  opposite  of  the  former ;  not  our  own 
righteousness,  but  God's ;  not  by  obedience  to  the  law, 
but  through  the  faith  of  Christ ;  not  the  righteousness  of 

*Phil.  iii.  8,  9. 


396  SERMON  XVIII. 

the  sinner,  but  of  the  sinner's  Saviour,  who  fulfilled  the 
law,  and  endured  its  curse  for  him.  These  two  descrip- 
tions of  righteousness  are  so  incompatible  with  one 
another  that  they  cannot  coalesce.  You  cannot  wear 
them  both  together.  If  you  would  put  on  one,  you  must 
renounce  the  other.  You  cannot  be  under  the  law,  and 
under  grace;  trusting  in  your  own  merits  and  those  of 
Christ  at  the  same  time.  See,  then,  what  St.  Paul  meant 
by  being  found  in  Christ. 

If  found  having  on  his  own  righteousness — that  is,  trust- 
ing thereto,  wrapping  himself  therein  as  a  covering  from 
the  tempest,  when  the  wrath  of  God  should  come  against 
sin,  he  would  not  be  found  in  Christ.  He  was  therefore 
most  earnest  not  thus  to  be  clothed,  but  rather  to  be  per- 
fectly stripped  of  all  such  protection.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  if  found  trusting  only  in  the  righteousness  which  is 
provided  of  God  in  Christ,  and  embraced  by  faith,  clothed 
in  that  spotless  robe  which  God  giveth  as  a  wedding 
garment  to  every  soul  that  accepts  his  invitation  to  the 
great  feast  of  redeeming  grace,  then  would  he  be  found 
in  Christ,  sheltered  as  perfectly  from  the  condemnation  of 
sin,  as  Noah  under  the  shelter  of  the  ark,  from  the  wrath 
of  the  flood;  as  secure  of  life  eternal  as  he  in  whose 
righteousness  he  is  clothed.  Thus  do  we  "  put  on  Christ." 
Thus  is  he  "  made  unto  us  righteousness."  Thus  is  he 
"the  Lord  our  righteousness."  In  that  refuge,  clothed 
upon  with  that  white  robe,  Paul  was  abiding  when  he 
wrote  the  words  on  which  we  have  been  commenting.  It 
was  all  his  hope.  And  there  he  most  earnestly  desired 
to  be  found  when  his  work  should  be  done.  He  had  suf- 
fered the  loss  of  all  things  for  Christ;  but  in  that  righteous- 


THE  PRESENT  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  DEAD  IN  CHRIST.     397 

ness,  he  placed  no  trust.  All  that,  and  all  else  of  his 
own,  he  renounced,  as  incapable  of  answering  the  demands 
of  the  law.  Christ  had  suffered  all  the  penalty,  and  ful- 
filled all  the  obedience  of  the  law  for  him.  That  was  the 
righteousness  in  which  his  hope  rejoiced.  As  his  end 
drew  near,  he  wrapped  that  robe  about  him  only  the  more 
humbly,  and  confidently,  and  joyfully.  Death  found  him 
where  every  trial  of  his  faith  had  found  him.  He  fell 
asleep,  where  he  had  lived,  "in  Christ  Jesus"  and  now  is 
he  one  of  that  great  multitude  of  the  dead,  the  "absent 
from  the  body,"  over  whose  graves  the  Evangelist  has 
written,  "Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord. 
Even  so,  saith  the  Spirit,  for  they  rest  from  their  labors." 
May  we  follow  him  in  his  faith,  that  we  be  like  him  in  his 
blessedness.  And  now  let  us  attend  to  what  our  text  de- 
clares of — 

II.  The  blessedness  of  those  who  die  in  the  Lord. 

There  is  something  very  remarkable  in  the  very  formal 
and  solemn  manner  in  which  St.  John  is  made  to  announce 
the  precious  declaration  contained  in  the  text.  He  be- 
gins— "  /  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  saying  unto  me,  Write., 
Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord,  from  henceforth" 
Then  another  voice  is  heard,  giving  a  confirming  testi- 
mony to  the  declaration  of  the  first:  "Yea,  saith  the  Spirit, 
for  they  rest  from  their  labors.''1  One  is  led  to  inquire, 
Why  this  peculiar  solemnity ;  this  new  declaration  from 
heaven ;  this  new-commanded  record  and  this  super-added 
celestial  attestation  of  the  same?  Was  there  anything 
new  to  the  Church,  in  the  days  of  St.  John,  in  the  plain, 
though  precious  truth,  he  was  thus  commanded  to  record? 
Had  it  not  been  the  consolation  of  believers,  and  especially 


398  SERMON  xvnr. 

of  martyrs,  rejoicing  at  the  stake,  ever  since  the  Gospel 
was  preached?  Had  not  St.  Paul  said,  some  half  century 
before,  that  he  knew  that  when  his  body  should  be  dissolved, 
he  should  have  "  a  building  of  God,  eternal  in  the  heavens;"" 
that  for  a  child  of  God  to  be  "absent  from  the  body"  is  to 
"be present  ivith  the  Lord?" 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  this  extraordinary  announce- 
ment of  so  plain  and  familiar  a  truth,  occurs  in  the  midst 
of  the  prophecies  of  St.  John  concerning  the  persecutions 
of  the  saints,  by  that  mystic  Antichrist  called  by  St.  Paul 
"the  Man  of  Sin,"  "the  mystery  of  iniquity;"  known 
now  as  the  Church  of  Rome,  but  called  in  the  verses  just 
preceding  our  text,  Babylon,  because  of  its  eminent  like- 
ness to  that  ancient  city  of  corruption,  in  its  wars  against 
the  Israel  of  God,  and  in  the  abominations  of  its  idolatries. 
The  prophet  St.  John  had  just  predicted  the  utter  ruin  of 
that  apostate  church,  in  these  awful  words:  "Babylon  is 
fallen,  is  fallen,  that  great  city,  because  she  made  all  natiom 
drink  of  the  wine  of  the  ^vrath  of her  fornications ."  Next, 
an  angel  denounces  the  vengeance  of  God  upon  all  who 
should  participate  in  her  crimes.  Then,  as  if  to  show  that, 
in  maintaining  a  faithful  resistance  to  all  her  blandishments 
and  persecutions,  would  be  the  great  trial  of  the  faithful- 
ness of  the  true  people  of  God,  the  prophet  abruptly 
declares :  "Here  is  the  patience  of  the  saints :  these  are  they 
t/iat  hep  the  commandments  of  God  and  the  faith  of  Jesus" 
Then,  to  comfort  them  in  their  struggle,  comes  the  decla- 
ration :  "  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying  unto  me, 
Write,  blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord,  from 
henceforth." 

Mark  the  word  henceforth.     Does  it  mean  from  the 


THE  PRESENT  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  DEAD  IN  CHRIST.     399 

time  John  was  directed  to  write  ?    But  why  should  the 
dead  in  Christ  be  blessed  from  that  period  more  than  any 
other  ?     There  was  nothing  in  the  close  of  John's  ministry, 
(when  he  received  the  Revelation,)  to  make  any  remark- 
able epoch  in  the  blessedness  of  the  saints  departed.     Does 
it  mean,  from  a  certain  point  of  time,  in  the  course  of  the 
fulfillment  of  the  prophecies  of  this  book ;  a  time  then 
in  the  distant  future ;  as  if  the  voice  from  heaven  speak- 
ing to  John,  were  issuing  from  the  midst  of  the  events 
of  that  future  time,  and  saying,  "from  henceforth"  from 
that  period,  "  blessed  are  the  dead,"  &c.?     Such  interpreta- 
tion would  teach  that  it  is  given  only  to  a  certain  portion 
of  the  dead  in  Christ  to  be  blessed  and  to  rest  from  their 
labors,  while  it  is  not  given  to  another ;  and  that  the  dis- 
tinction rests  only  upon  times  and  external  events  in  this 
life,  having  no  connection  with  the  inward  state  of  believ- 
ers ;  that  it  is  not  because  they  die  in  the  Lord,  that  some 
are  blessed  and  rest  from  their  labors,  but  because  they 
die  at  a  certain  period,  amidst  certain  events.     But  this 
is  inconsistent  with  the  analogy  of  faith,  and  with  the 
plain  teaching  of  St.  Paul,  when,  speaking  of  the  depar- 
ture of  believers  in  general,  he  teaches  that  to  depart  in 
Christy  is  to  le  with  Christ  ;*  and  therefore  to  be  blessed 
with  the  most  glorious  rest.    It  was  long  before  this  hearing 
the  voice  from  heaven,  that  John  had  seen  in  vision  "  a 
great  multitude  which  no  man  could  number,"  standing 
u  before  the  throne,  and  before  the  Lamb,  clothed  with 
white  robes,  and  palms  in  their  hands,"  and  saying,  "  Sal- 
vation to  our  God  which  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  a  ad  unto 
the  Lamb."     They  had  "  come  out  of  great  tribulation, 

*2  Cor.  v.  9,  and  Phil.  i.  23. 


400  SERMON  XVIII. 

and  had  washed  their  robes  and  made  them  white  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb."  They  were  absent  from  the  body 
and  present  with  the  Lord.  They  had  died  in  the  Lord, 
and  were  now  blessed  in  his  presence,  and  love,  and  glory, 
and  they  rested  from  their  labors.  Their  rest  is  described : 
"  They  shall  hunger  no  more,  neither  thirst  any  more ; 
neither  shall  the  sun  light  on  them,  nor  any  heat.  For 
the  Lamb  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne  shall  feed 
them,  and  shall  lead  them  unto  living  fountains  of  waters, 
and  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes."* 
What  sweet  rest !  It  is  exactly  what  the  voice  from 
heaven  said  would  be  the  portion  of  the  dead  in  Christ. 
And  it  teaches  that  as  soon  as  they  came  out  of  the 
great  tribulation,  as  soon  as  they  died,  they  were  thus 
before  the  throne ;  and  moreover,  that  their  being  thus 
blessed  and  glorified,  was  simply  because  they  had  washed 
their  robes  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb" — in  other  words,  had  died  in  the  Lord.  From 
henceforth,  from  that  time  of  their  death,  they  were  so 
blessed,  and  entered  into  that  sweet  rest.  We  therefore 
understand  the  word  "  henceforth ;"  ("blessed  are  the  dead 
which  die  in  the  Lord,  from  henceforth")  just  as  our 
Church,  causing  it  to  be  read  over  the  graves  of  her  peo- 
ple, would  teach  us  to  understand  it,  and  as  the  scriptures 
in  other  places  teach  us,  concerning  the  state  of  the  dead 
in  Christ,  namely,  from  the  time  of  their  dying  in  the 
Lord;  as  if  it  were  written,  Blessed,  from  the  moment  of 
death,  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord. 

Viewed  in  this  light,  there  is  abundant  explanation  of 
the  very  peculiar  emphasis  and  solemnity  with  which  a 

*  Rev.  vii.  9-17. 


THE  PRESENT  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  DEAD  IN  CHRIST.     401 

voice  from  heaven  declared  anew,  and  directed  John  to 
record  anew,  what  the  primitive  Church  so  well  understood, 
and  Apostles  had  so  plainly  taught,  and  faithful  followers 
of  Christ  had  so  long  cherished,  and  in  inspired  epistles  to 
the  churches  was  so  indelibly  written.  It  was  foreseen 
that  a  time  would  come  when  that  truth,  so  dear  to  a  dying 
believer,  so  unspeakably  comforting  when  a  Christian  is 
called  to  suffer  for  his  Master,  would  be  almost  erased  from 
the  memory  and  belief  of  men;  when,  though  it  would 
remain  written  in  the  scriptures,  a  Church,  professing  to  be 
the  exclusive  keeper  and  interpreter  of  the  scriptures, 
would  so  keep  it  out  of  sight,  by  keeping  the  whole  scrip- 
tures in  bondage ;  would  so  conceal  it  by  her  rubbish  of  false 
doctrine,  and  vain  tradition,  and  so  deny  it,  by  positive  de- 
cree, requiring  universal  belief  in  precisely  the  opposite — 
thus  putting  darkness  for  light — that  it  would  be  necessary 
that  so  vital  a  truth  of  the  redemption  in  Christ  Jesus  should 
be  recorded  again,  published  anew,  established  afresh,  and 
with  an  emphasis  and  solemnity,  as  if  a  new  revelation 
from  heaven  had  been  received.  The  text  is  not  only  a 
foresight  of  that  necessity,  but  a  prophecy,  that  at  that 
time  of  darkness  and  corruption  of  the  truth,  there  would 
be,  under  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  a  great  revival  of  that 
very  doctrine  of  the  present  blessedness  of  the  dead  in 
Christ,  from  the  very  time  of  their  death ;  a  fresh  writing 
of  it  in  the  creeds  of  all  Christians ;  a  new  record  of  it  in 
their  hearts;  and  a  new  attestation  thereof  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  accompanying  such  revived  teachings  of  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus,  with  his  own  sanctifying  power.  All  this, 
you  know,  was  fulfilled. 

You  know  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  con- 
26 


402  SERMON  XVIII. 

cerning  the  state  of  the  dead  in  Christ;  her  abominable 
invention  of  purgatorial  sufferings  to  make  them  meet  for 
the  inheritance  of  the  saints.     The  greatest  persecutor  of 
God's  people,  "drunk  with  the  blood  of  his  saints;"  she 
has  forbidden  all  men,  under  pain  of  her  anathema,  to 
believe  that  very  hope  of  being  with  Christ  and  resting 
from  his  labors  at  the  time  of  death,  which  the  faithful 
confessor  feels  to  be  his  precious  consolation  when  suffer- 
ing her  torments,  in  his  Master's  name.     Not  henceforth, 
she  pronounces,  against  that  voice  from  heaven.     They 
that  die  in  the  Lord  are  not  blessed  when  they  die ;  they 
do  not  rest  from  their  labors;  they  are  not  present  with 
the  Lord.     Such  is  the  voice,  not  from  heaven,  but  from 
Antichrist.     What  that  "mystery  of  iniquity"  has  com- 
manded to  be  written,  and  has  established  by  solemn 
decree,  under  seal  of  pretended  infallible  teaching  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  is,  that  the  dead  in  Christ,  instead  of 
resting  from  their  labors,  have  entered  on  labors  and  pains 
more  severe  than  ever  they  knew  before;  instead  of  being 
blessed   and  happy  with  Christ,  are  suffering  for  their 
sins,  in  distant  and  dark  separation  from  him;  instead 
of  finding  that  his  blood  "  cleanseth  from  all  sin,"  are 
experiencing  the  pains   of  purgatorial   flames,  for   the 
finishing  of  the  work  that  he  hath  left  undone ;  instead  of 
being  relieved  by  death,  are  more  wretched  than  before 
they  died;  instead  of  being  liberated  from  all  terrestrial 
things,  are  now  dependent  on  the  prayers,  and  masses,  and 
indulgences  of  the  Church  on  earth,  on  the  will  of  priests, 
and  the  charity  of  sinners,  and  the  payment  of  money  to 
buy  the  priest's  mediation,  for  the  diminution  of  their 
years  of  suffering.     What  an  abomination  of  the  devil, 


THE  PRESENT  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  DEAD  IN  CHRIST.      403 

the  "father  of  lies!"  What  a  horrible  poison  to  cast 
into  the  cup  of  the  children  of  God,  turning  all  its 
sweet  consolations  into  bitterness  How  can  that  spiritual 
communion  be  else  than  Antichrist,  which  thus  sets  itself 
up  in  the  temple  of  God,  as  if  it  were  God,  and  as  if  it 
held  the  keys  of  death  ;  which  opposes  Christ  at  the  death- 
bed of  his  saints,  prohibits  them  his  consolations,  takes 
away  "  the  garment  of  praise,"  with  which  he  invests  the 
dying  believer,  and  substitutes  "  the  spirit  of  heaviness," 
yea,  denies  what  the  Lord  has  written  for  his  people,  to  be 
read  by  them  in  the  valley  of  death,  and  writes  precisely 
the  reverse  ? 

Early  began  the  rudiments  of  that  profaneness.  It  was 
part  of  that  "  mystery  of  iniquity,"  which  Paul  said  had 
begun  to  work  even  in  his  day.*  It  went  on  working  and 
maturing,  as  the  Church  declined  more  and  more  from  the 
purity  of  the  Gospel,  till  it  became  the  full  grown,  regu- 
larly decreed,  and  sealed  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 
No  man  was  allowed  to  believe  otherwise,  under  pain  of 
her  curse.  At  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
that  evil  doctrine  was  at  its  height.  It  was  bringing  in 
enormous  gains  to  the  treasury  of  the  Church  and  to  the 
vices  of  her  priesthood,  in  the  payments  of  poor,  igno- 
rant people  for  masses  and  indulgences,  which  pretended 
to  deliver  the  suffering  souls  of  Christ's  people  out  of  the 
flames  of  purgatory.  It  was  the  mine  of  her  wealth,  the 
factory  of  her  merchandize,  the  very  lever  of  her  power. 
The  truth  of  the  Gospel  concerning  the  blessedness  of  the 
dead  in  Christ,  as  well  as  their  free  and  perfect  justifica- 
tion in  his  righteousness  only,  had  become  almost  as 
unknown  as  if  it  had  never  been  written.  It  was  in  the 

*  2  Thess.  ii.  7. 


404  SERMON  XVIII. 

Bible  yet,  but  the  Bible  was  locked  up  and  forbidden  the 
people.    Then  came  the  Revival — the  Reformation.    As  if 
a  voice  from  heaven  had  just  been  heard,  saying :  "  Write, 
Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord,  from  henceforth? ' 
from  the  hour  they  die;  as  if  the  confirmation,  "  Yea,  saith 
the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from   their  labors"  had 
just  sounded  from  on  high;   there  took  place  a  mar- 
vellous, and  wide  re-establishment  of  that  blessed  truth. 
It  was  Tetzel's  preaching  that  very  doctrine  of  purgatory, 
and  his  making  merchandize  of  men's  souls  thereby,  that 
first  roused  the  spirit  of  Luther  and  caused  the  first  blast  of 
the  trump  of  the  Reformation.     The  scriptures  were  re- 
opened— the  Gospel  was  preached  anew — the  whole  truth 
of  the  sinner's  complete  justification  in  the  righteousness 
of  Christ,  through  faith  only,  without  merit  of  works,  or 
aid  of  priests,  or  saints,  or  penances,  or  indulgences,  was 
re-written,  re-attested,  re-established.     With  it,  was  set  up 
anew,  in  the  creeds  and  hearts  of  believers,  the  assurance 
of  the  present  felicity  and  rest  in  Christ,  and  with  Christ, 
so  all  that  have  died  in  him.     It  is  now  written  before 
every  eye,  by  the  publication  of  the  scriptures  in  so  many 
languages,  and  their  being  placed  in  the  hands  of  so  many 
millions.     It  is  written  so  that  it  can  never  be  concealed 
again,  wherever  the  Gospel  is  preached.     Thousands  and 
thousands  of  faithful  ministers  of  Christ  are  engaged  in 
obeying  the  command  to  write  it.     It  is  written  by  the 
Spirit  of  God  in  the  hearts  of  a  multitude  that  cannot  be 
numbered,  and  no  powers  of  Antichrist,  no  wiles  of  the 
devil,  can  ever  deface,  or  take  it   away.     Our  mother 
Church  wrote  it,  not  only  in  her  whole  testimony  to  the 
Gospel  doctrine  of  a  free  and  perfect  justification  of  every 


THE  PRESENT  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  DEAD  IN  CHRIST.     405 

believer  in  Jesus,  by  his  righteousness  only  ;  but  particu- 
larly in  her  office  for  the  burial  of  the  dead,  testifying  there- 
in that  "  the  souls  of  the  faithful,  after  they  depart  hence 
in  the  Lord,  and  are  delivered  from  the  burden  of  the 
flesh,"  do  live  with  God,  and  "  are  in  joy  and  felicity :  " 
so  making,  as  well  her  graveyards,  as  her  pulpits,  pro- 
claim it — so  writing  it  over  the  chambers  of  the  dead. 
That  testimony  is  ours  also,  and  in  the  same  words.  We 
renew  our  solemn  protest  against  one  of  the  vilest  inven- 
tions of  Antichrist,  every  time  we  lay  a  believer  in  his 
last  bed;  proclaiming  over  his  grave,  "I  heard  a  voice 
from  heaven  saying  unto  me,  Write,  blessed  are  the  dead 
which  die  in  the  Lord,  from  henceforth ;  yea,  saith  the 
Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from  their  labors." 

Let  us  pause  on  these  words,  and  meditate  on  the  hap- 
piness of  which  they  speak.  They  that  die  in  the  Lord 
are  blessed  in  death  itself.  Found  in  Christ,  how  changed 
is  death  to  them !  The  sting  is  taken  away.  The  terror 
is  abolished.  Where  flesh  and  blood  are  vanquished  and 
fall,  the  spirit  rises  in  triumph  and  sings  her  song,  like 
Miriam  at  the  Red  Sea,  u  Thanks  to  God  which  giveth  us 
the  victory,  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  "  Precious 
in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  is  the  death  of  his  saints."  It 
is  their  blessedness  in  death  to  have  him  specially  near  to 
them;  to  have  most  precious  communion  with  him;  to 
feel  a  freeness  and  strength  of  faith  in  committing  their 
all  to  him,  which  they  have  not  known  before ;  to  say 
with  a  confidence,  and  love,  and  peace,  sweeter  than  ever 
they  realized  before :  "  The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd;  I  shall 
not  want — I  fear  no  evil — thou  art  with  me."  "  The  Lord 
is  my  light  and  salvation;  whom  shall  I  fear?  The  Lord 


406  SERMON  XVIII. 

is  the  strength  of  my  life  ;  of  whom  then  shall  I  be  afraid?" 
They  "  sleep  in  Jesus."  How  sweet  that  description,  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  of  the  death  of  those  who  die  in  the 
Lord!  It  is  going  to  rest  after  a  weary  day.  It  is  all 
peace,  as  the  sleep  of  a  child  folded  in  a  mother's  arms. 
"  To  die  is  gain."  It  is  the  crossing  the  river  to  the 
blessed  land,  and  the  river  is  divided  that  the  believer 
may  go  over  unharmed,  untroubled. 

The  dead  in  Christ  are  blessed  in  being  " with  Christ" 
"present  with  the  Lord."  Their  "intermediate  state"  is 
not  intermediate  between  darkness  and  perfect  light ;  be- 
tween suffering,  and  unmingled,  ineffable,  felicity ;  between 
being  away  from  Christ,  and  being  in  the  full  presence  and 
communion  of  his  love  and  glory.  It  is  intermediate  be- 
cause between  death  and  the  resurrection ;  between  being 
absent  from  the  body,  and  being  in  the  body  again,  when 
it  shall  be  raised  in  incorruption ;  between  the  full  measure 
of  felicity  which  the  soul  is  capable  of  in  separation  from 
the  body,  and  that  larger  measure,  when  its  original  habi- 
tation being  fashioned  like  unto  the  glorious  body  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  shall  be  restored  to  it,  and  both  in  one  person 
shall  be  "present  with  the  Lord."  Thus  intermediate  their 
state,  their  presence  with  him  in  glory  is  without  a  veil. 
Their  communion  with  him  in  bliss  and  love  has  no  barrier 
to  hinder,  no  infirmity  to  weaken,  no  cloud  to  obscure 
it.  They  were  found  in  Christ  at  death,  and  they  must 
be  with  him  forever  in  glory.  Our  blessed  Lord's  own 
chosen  consolation  to  his  people  here  is,  "I  will  receive 
you  unto  myself,  that  where  I  am  there  ye  may  be  also." 
They  rest  from  their  labors.  They  were  "strangers  and 
pilgrims"  here,  far  off  from  home.  They  had  a  wilder- 


THE  PRESENT  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  DEAD  IN  CHRIST.     407 

ness  to  labor  through;  a  stubborn,  rebellious  nature  to 
labor  with ;  many  a  grievous  burden  to  bear ;  a  host  of 
infirmities  to  make  them  wearied  and  faint  in  their  minds ; 
a  great  work  to  do,  demanding  all  diligence.  Their  pa- 
tience was  often  sorely  tried.  Their  hearts  were  often 
very  heavy.  Their  hands  hung  down.  They  longed  for 
rest.  Now  it  has  come.  The  pilgrim  has  reached  his 
city  of  habitation.  The  stranger  has  arrived  at  his  home. 
The  burden  is  dropped.  The  work  is  done.  They  rest 
from  their  labors. 

They  were  soldiers.  A  great  prize  was  to  be  gained ; 
a  great  battle  was  to  be  fought.  Their  all,  for  eternity, 
was  at  stake.  The  world  was  to  be  overcome.  An  ad- 
versary of  great  might,  the  god  of  this  world,  was  to  be 
vanquished.  Their  march  was  at  every  step  through  the 
country  of  the  enemy.  The  conflict  was  never  over  while 
they  lived  in  the  flesh.  Incessantly  to  stand  on  the  watch, 
was  their  calling.  They  "  fought  a  good  fight  and  kept 
the  faith."  In  the  armor  of  God  they  trusted,  and  with 
the  sword  of  the  Spirit  contended.  In  their  weakness, 
they  were  made  strong.  As  their  day,  so  was  their  strength. 
God  was  their  refuge,  a  very  present  help  in  time  of 
trouble.  Thus  they  endured  to  the  end;  sometimes  cast 
down,  never  destroyed.  Now  are  they  more  than  conquer- 
ors through  him  that  loved  them.  The  conflict  is  ended, 
the  land  is  gained,  the  crown  is  won.  The  promise  of  the 
Lord  is  fulfilled :  "To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  grant  to 
sit  with  me  on  my  throne."  "  They  rest  from  their  labors" 

Sweet  indeed  must  be  that  rest  to  a  soul  just  arrived 
out  of  this  evil  world;  just  delivered  from  the  burden  of 
the  flesh,  and  all  the  pains,  and  sorrows,  and  sins,  of  this 


408  SERMON   XVIII. 

mortal  life — sweet  that  Sabbath  of  perfect  rest,  after  all 
these  working  days  of  the  week  in  which  we  are  so  wearied 
and  heavy  laden ;  sweet  that  Sabbath  in  the  temple  of  the 
glory  of  God,  in  the  immediate  presence  of  Jesus,  where 
there  can  be  no  more  death,  nor  sorrow — all  tears  wiped 
away  and  never  to  return,  the  joy  of  the  Lord  our  portion 
and  inheritance. 

Yea,  sweet  indeed,  when  it  is  considered  with  whom,  in 
what  fellowship,  that  eternal  rest  is  to  be  enjoyed.  How 
little  we  know  here,  by  any  just  conception,  of  the  love 
of  God  towards  his  children  whom  he  hath  adopted  in 
Christ,  and  in  whose  hearts  he  hath  shed  abroad  the  spirit 
of  the  adoption,  so  that  they  are  "not  servants  but  sons — 
heirs  of  God  through  Christ!"  We  measure  God's  love  to 
his  children  so  much  by  their  love  to  him.  And  we  mea- 
sure the  fellowship  and  love  of  the  saints  above  so  much 
by  the  feebleness  and  dullness  of  our  love  in  the  Church  be- 
low. The  communion  of  saints !  what  do  we  know  of  it 
now  ?  Christian  society  !  social  pleasures  of  holy  minds 
and  hearts,  united  in  Christ  and  in  a  common  inheritance, 
baptized  in  one  Spirit;  how  little  we  know  of  it?  Church 
relationship  !  what  conception  can  we  get  of  it  in  its  full- 
ness and  blessedness,  from  any  specimen  furnished  in  the 
bonds  of  brotherhood  realized  among  believers  in  the  ex- 
ceedingly infirm,  and  mutilated,  and  defiled  condition  of 
the  Church  on  earth,  with  its  mixtures,  and  divisions,  and 
jealousies  and  strife  ?  But  oh,  when  that  sweet  rest  shall 
come ;  when  the  soul  departed  finds  itself  in  that  com- 
munion of  "the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,"  where 
is  perfect  calm  from  all  that  agitates  this  visible  Church  on 
earth,  where  eye  will  see  to  eye,  and  heart  will  come  to 


THE  PRESENT  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  DEAD  IN  CHRIST.     409 

heart,  and  sin  cannot  enter,  and  love  is  made  perfect,  and 
the  love  of  God  to  his  people  is  not  only  received,  but 
known,  and  realized,  in  all  its  wonderful  depths — when  we 
are  come  to  the  New  Jerusalem,  to  the  general  assembly 
and  church  of  the  first  born,  which  are  written  in  heaven, 
to  God  in  his  glory,  and  Jesus  as  he  is ;  then  shall  we  un- 
derstand what  holy  society  is;  Church  brotherhood;  the 
nearness  of  the  relationship  between  the  children  of  God's 
adoption  in  Christ;  their  nearness  in  love  to  God,  through 
their  vital  union  to  his  beloved  Son.  Then  shall  we  under- 
stand what  communion  of  saints  is — with  God,  in  Christ; 
with  one  another,  in  the  life  everlasting.  It  is  a  rest  which 
remaineth  to  the  people  of  God.  Only  a  foretaste  have  we 
here,  and  that  in  comparatively  a  very  slight  degree ;  as  a 
mariner  catches  a  little  sense  of  rest,  now  and  then,  upon 
his  ocean  voyage.  To  form  any  conception  of  its  ineffable 
sweetness,  remaineth.  Oh,  how  unsearchable  the  grace 
that  has  prepared  such  blessedness  for  such  sinners,  and 
that  prepares  such  sinful  hearts  for  such  blessedness  1 

But  methinks  I  hear  some  complaint,  as  if  I  were 
omitting  to  speak  of  one  very  important  part  of  our  text : 
"  their  works  do  follow  them"  No,  it  is  not  forgotten.  It 
is  reserved  as  part  of  the  exhibition  of  the  blessedness  of 
the  dead  in  Christ.  But  the  works  of  believers  !  Those 
imperfect,  unworthy  works,  which  they  tried  to  do  for 
Christ  and  his  Church,  but  which  they  always  felt  to  come 
so  far  short  in  every  duty  of  motive  and  spirit,  of  love, 
and  faith,  and  devotedness ;  the  works  they  so  often  re- 
pented of  as  most  defective,  and  all  of  which  they  so 
utterly  renounced  when  they  sought  the  rock  on  which  to 
build  their  hope  of  justification  and  acceptance  with  God; 


410  SERMON  XVIII. 

— how  can  they  follow  into  that  blessedness  ;  what  can  they 
do  in  that  rest ;  what  office  have  they  to  perform  in  the 
presence  of  Christ ;  why  will  they  go  with  believers,  dying 
in  the  Lord?  Mark!  they  fottoiv — they  go  not  before  to 
open  the  door.  No,  no  !  "  Not  of  works,  lest  any  man 
should  boast."  Jesus  goes  before.  The  believer's  faith 
goes  before,  following  Jesus.  The  door  is  opened  by  the 
one  Mediator,  who  hath  "  for  us  entered,"  and  who  by 
entering  as  our  Forerunner,  and  Surety,  and  Advocate, 
and  Righteousness,  hath  opened  ^vide  the  way  for  his 
people.  And  because  his  people  enter  by  him,  their  works 
of  faith,  and  labors  of  love,  wrought  by  his  grace,  and  ac- 
cepted through  his  intercession,  enter  likewise.  They 
bring  no  plea.  They  present  no  claim.  They  too,  must 
be  accepted,  only  through  grace,  "not  of  works"  The 
righteousness  of  Christ  that  justifies  the  believer,  justifies 
his  works  as  a  believer's.  They  follow  him,  not  afar  off, 
but  immediately,  as  works  always  and  necessarily  follow 
faith ;  inseparably  united,  going  wherever  it  goes,  its  evi- 
dences, its  fruits,  its  fullness;  the  clustering  grapes  follow- 
ing hard  upon  the  life  and  growth  of  the  vine ;  the  mani- 
festation following  faithfully  upon  the  reality  of  godliness. 
There  is  to  be  a  reward  "  according  to  works  done  in  the 
body  " — a  reward  not  of  eternal  life,  for  that  is  the  pur- 
chase of  Christ  and  his  free  gift  to  the  believer — but  a 
reward  in  eternal  life,  after  it  has  been  freely  given,  after 
the  ransomed  of  the  Lord  have  freely  entered  into  the 
joy  of  their  Lord.  Then  will  come  their  reward,  according 
to  their  works — not  on  account  of  their  works ',  on  account 
still  of  the  merits  and  grace  of  Christ  alone ;  but  accord- 
ing to  the  faithfulness  wherewith  the  believer,  in  his  heart's 


THE  PRESENT  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  DEAD  IN  CHRIST.     411 

works  and  in  his  life's  works,  has  adorned  his  Master's 
service  and  done  good  to  man.  That  reward  will  bring 
sweet  contributions  to  the  blessedness  of  the  departed  be- 
liever. It  will  mingle  precious  joys  with  his  everlasting 
rest.  Often  he  will  wonder  at  the  abundant  grace  be- 
stowed by  his  gracious  Saviour  on  .what  he  regarded  per- 
haps as  the  very  least  of  his  doings — the  cup  of  cold  water 
given ;  the  secret  sigh  to  do  what,  through  opposing 
providences,  was  never  done ;  the  box  of  ointment,  broken 
and  poured  out.  with  such  a  sense  of  sinfulness  and  so 
many  tears,  that  it  was  never  remembered,  but  for  its  un- 
worthiness.  But  the  thoughts  of  our  Lord  will  not 
be  as  our  thoughts.  Works  will  greatly  help,  through 
grace,  the  blessedness  which,  but  for  grace,  they  could 
never  enter,  and  would  only  come  into  condemnation. 

And,  now,  my  dear  brethren,  let  us  write  in  our  hearts, 
let  us  pray  the  blessed  Spirit  of  God  so  to  write  in  our 
hearts  what  the  voice  from  heaven  directed  John  to  write 
concerning  the  blessedness  of  the  dead  in  Christ,  that  we 
who  live,  and  are  so  soon  to  die,  may  be  quickened  into 
all  diligence  so  to  live,  that  when  we  die  we  may  share  that 
rest. 

How  comforting  and  delightful  the  assurance  we  have 
been  considering,  concerning  those  dear  departed  relatives 
and  friends,  who,  we  have  reason  to  believe,  did  die  in  the 
Lord.  Let  us  bless  God  for  so  plain  and  positive  a 
declaration  of  their  state.  Let  us  enjoy  it.  Let  us  not 
permit  the  mistiness  with  which  some  seem  to  labor  to 
invest  the  condition  of  the  righteous  dead,  to  come  over 
our  vision.  Mysterious  as  their  state,  out  of  the  body, 
unquestionably  is,  it  does  not  follow  that  what  is  revealed 


412  SERMON  XVIII. 

concerning  it  is  not  plain  and  certain.  True,  we  know 
not  what  we  shall  be  there ;  it  is  a  condition  of  being  of 
which  we  have  no  analogous  experience.  But  "  this  we 
know"  because  God  has  revealed  it,  that  to  depart  hence 
in  the  Lord,  is  to  be  with  the  Lord;  and  that  is  enough 
to  know,  and  enough  to  give  us  the  sweetest  thoughts  of 
the  present  glorious  communion  and  felicity  of  all  those 
whom  death  found  in  Christ.  * 

But  are  we  to  be  like  them,  in  our  death?  We  are 
soon  to  follow  them  in  the  dissolving  of  our  earthly  house 
of  this  tabernacle.  Have  we  a  good  hope  that  we  shall 
follow  them  in  their  departure  in  the  Lord  ?  How  will  it 
be  with  us?  How  is  it  noiv?  Can  I  say,  "For  me  to 
live  is  Christ  ?"  Am  I  now  in  him,  as  my  only  hope,  my 
daily  life,  a  branch  that  brings  forth  fruit?  It  is  surely 
very  impressive,  and  ought  exceedingly  to  reprove  and 
animate  us  to  greater  diligence,  to  see  St.  Paul  with  all 
his  evidences  of  being  in  Christ,  and  all  his  assurance  of 
a  crown  of  glory,  still  pressing  on,  that  he  might  "  win 
Christ  and  be  found  in  him."  Brethren,  may  we  meet  no 
sad  disappointment  in  our  hope,  when  it  shall  be  too  late 
to  obtain  a  better.  May  we  now  make  it  sure  that  we 
abide  in  Christ  and  he  in  us,  so  that  when  we  come  to  the 
last  trial,  we  may  have  such  sweet  evidence  of  God's  love 
to  us,  and  such  precious  assurance  that  we  are  going  to  him, 
that  it  may  seem  as  if  on  the  wall  of  our  chamber,  for  our 
closing  eyes  to  read,  it  were  written  by  the  finger  of  God: 
Blessed  are  ye  that  die  in  the  Lord  ;  and  as  if  a  voice  from 
heaven  sweetly  whispered,  Yea}  for  ye  rest  from  your 
labors  ! 


SERMON  III. 

THE     RESURRECTION    OF    CHRIST. 


LUKE  xxiv.  34. 
"The  Lord  is  risen  indeed." 

THESE  are  words  of  conviction,  and  of  joy.     To  appre- 
ciate them,  as  uttered  by  the  disciples  of  Christ,  when  they 
became  assured  that  he  had  risen  from  the  dead,  we  must 
enter  into  their  circumstances.     Well  persuaded  that,  in 
Jesus,  they  beheld  him  to  whom  all  the  prophets  had  wit- 
nessed, who  was  to  sit  on  the  throne  of  David,  and  to 
establish  his  kingdom  over  all  people ;  they  had  forsaken 
all  to  follow  him,  and  had  embarked  all  their  hopes  on  his 
claims.     Already  had  they  learned,  by  painful  experience, 
that  it  was  through  much  tribulation  they  were  to  share 
in   his  kingdom;  but  such  trials  had  not  shaken  their 
faith.     Accustomed  to  behold  him  despised,  persecuted, 
and  rejected  of  men,  their  confidence  was   continually 
sustained,  as  they  heard  him  speak  "as  never  man  spake," 
and  with  an  authority  that  controlled  the  sea  and  raised 
the  dead.     But  now,  deep  tribulation,  such  as  they  had 
not  known  before,  had  overtaken  them.     What  darkness 
ad  come  upon  their  faith !     He,  who  was  once  so  mighty 


414  SERMON  XIX. 

to  give  deliverance  to  the  captive,  had  himself  been  taken 
captive,  and  bound  to  the  cross.  He,  who  with  a  word 
raised  the  dead,  had  been  violently,  wickedly,  put  to  an 
ignominious  death.  He,  whom  they  expected  to  reign  as 
king  of  kings,  and  to  subdue  all  nations,  had  been  brought 
under  the  dominion  of  his  own  nation,  and  shut  up  in  the 
sepulchre,  and  all  the  people  of  Israel  were  now  boastfully 
confident  that  the  death  of  the  cross  had  proved  him  a 
deceiver.  Oh,  indeed,  it  was  a  season  of  great  heaviness, 
and  dismay,  and  trial ;  those  days  and  nights  in  which 
their  beloved  Master  was  lying  in  death !  The  great  stone 
which  his  enemies  had  rolled  to  the  door  of  the  sepulchre, 
lest  his  disciples  should  go  by  night  and  take  away  the 
body,  was  expressive  of  the  cold,  dead,  weight,  which  that 
death  and  burial  had  laid  upon  their  hearts.  That  sepul- 
chre seemed  as  the  tomb  of  all  their  hoges.  All  was 
buried  with  Jesus.  "For,  as  yet,  (it  is  written,)  they 
knew  not  the  scripture,  that  he  must  rise  again  from  the 
dead."*  Had  they  understood  what  he  had  often  told 
them,  they  would  have  known  "  that  thus  it  behooved 
(the)  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the  third 
day." 

The  third  day  was  now  come.  The  Jewish  Sabbath 
was  over.  The  first  day  of  the  week  was  breaking.  While 
it  is  yet  dark,  faithful  women  repair  to  the  sepulchre  with 
spices  for  the  embalming.  They  find  the  stone  rolled 
away.  Wondering  at  this,  they  enter  the  tomb.  The 
body  is  not  there.  Enemies  have  taken  it  away,  is  their 
first  thought.  Mary  Magdalene  hastens  to  say  to  Peter 
and  John,  "  they  have  taken  away  the  Lord  out  of  the 
sepulchre,  and  we  know  not  where  they  have  laid  him." 

*  John,  xx.  9. 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF   CHRIST.  415 

Angels  appear  to  the  women  in  their  alarm,  saying,  "  He 
is  not  here,  but  is  risen."  "With  fear,"  and  yet  "with 
great  joy,"  they  ran  "to  bring  his  disciples  word."  But 
to  the  latter,  "their  words  seemed  as  idle  tales,  and  they 
believed  them  not."  Peter  and  John  had  now  reached 
"the  place  where  the  Lord  lay,"  and  entering  in,  they 
found  the  grave-clothes  remaining,  but  otherwise  an 
empty  sepulchre.  They  "saw  and  believed."  After  a 
little,  came  Mary  Magdalene  to  the  other  disciples,  and 
"  told  them  she  had  seen  the  Lord,"  and  what  thing^  he 
had  spoken  unto  her.  Still,  "they  believed  not."  It 
seemed  too  good  to  be  true.  How  was  it  that  they  did 
not  remember  his  words,  which  even  the  Chief  Priests 
and  "Pharisees  repeated  to  Pilate,  as  a  reason  for  posting 
a  guard  around  the  tomb,  "After  three  days,  I  will  rise 
again."  %  The  terrible  shock  of  the  crucifixion  must 
have  so  stunned  their  faith,  and  distracted  their  thoughts, 
that  what  they  afterward  remembered  so  clearly,  was 
either  forgotten,  or  not  comprehended. 

That  same  day,  two  of  them  went  toward  the  neigh- 
boring village.  Their  hearts  were  heavy,  and  they 
"talked  of  all  these  things  that  had  happened."  Jesus 
"drew  near,  and  went  with  them."  He  often  draws 
near  to  those  whose  hearts  are  sad,  because  they  feel  their 
need  of  him.  He  asked  their  grief.  They  told  him  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  whom  they  believed  to  have  been  "a 
prophet,  mighty  in  word  and  deed;"  how  he  had  been  put 
to  death — he  of  whom  they  expected  that  "he  would 
have  redeemed  Israel;"  and  how  it  was  now  the  third 
day  since  this  was  done ;  and  of  the  amazing  statement 

*Matt.  xxvii.  63. 


416  SERMON   XIX. 

that  his  sepulchre  had  been  found  empty,  and  that  a  vision 
of  angels  had  been  seen,  "who  said  he  was  alive." 

Then  answered  their  unknown  companion :  "  0  slow  of 
heart  to  believe  all  that  the  prophets  have  spoken."  "  And 
beginning  at  Moses  and  all  the  prophets,  he  expoun- 
ded unto  them  in  all  the  scriptures  the  things  concerning 
himself."  What  an  exposition  must  that  have  been !  Who 
but  must  wish  we  had  it  to  read  !  No  wonder  their  hearts 
were  inflamed  at  the  touch  of  such  words,  and  burned 
witBin  them,  while  thus  the  Light  of  the  world  was  opening 
to  them  the  scriptures.  Presently,  while  sitting  at  meat 
with  them,  Jesus  V  took  bread,  and  Iralce  it,  and  gave  to 
them"  It  was  a  sign  they  could  not  mistake.  Their  eyes 
were  opened  in  that  breaking  of  bread.  "  They  knew 
him,  and  he  vanished  out  of  their  sight."  Immediately 
they  returned  to  Jerusalem  with  the  tidings,  "£hey  found 
the  rest  of  the  disciples,  and  others,  gathered  together — 
but  in  what  mind  ?  No  more  in  doubt,  but  saying  among 
themselves,  " The  Lord  is  risen  indeed"  The  two  from 
Emmaus,  now  added  their  testimony.  Again,  and  more 
confidently  and  joyfully,  must  they  all  have  said  one  to 
another,  with  a  relief  of  heart,  and  a  return  of  faith,  and 
a  resurrection  of  hope,  like  the  return  of  day  after  a 
long  and  fearful  night,  The  Lord  is  risen  indeed ;  the  Lord 
is  risen  indeed. 

Corresponding  with  the  faith  and  joy  of  those  disciples, 
is  the  state  of  mind  in  which  the  Church  should  keep  her 
feast,  this  day — the  annual  commemoration  of  the  res- 
urrection of  her  Lord  and  Head.  *  Eminently  is  it  the 
Lord's  day — that  from  which  all  the  Sabbaths  of  the  Chris- 

*  Easter  Sunday. 


THE   RESURRECTION   OF   CHRIST.  417 

tian  year  derive  their  light  and  festival.  It  is  "  the  great 
day  of  the  feast" — that  feast  of  faith  and  hope  which 
measures  all  the  life  of  the  true  believer. 

We  began  by  saying  that  the  words  of  the  text,  as  ut- 
tered by  the  Apostles,  are  words  of  conviction  and  words 
of  joyfulness.  Under  those  two  aspects  we  will  treat  the 
subject  they  contain. 

I.  Words  of  conviction.  "  The  Lord  is  risen  indeed." 
The  Apostles  had  laid  aside  their  doubts  and  were  as- 
sured. And  what  if  we  were  not  assured  that  Christ  did 
rise?  St.  Paul  answers,  "If  Christ  be  not  risen,  then  is 
our  preaching  vain,  and  your  faith  is  also  vain."  "  Ye 
are  yet  in  your  sins.  Then  they  which  are  fallen  asleep 
in  Christ  are  perished."*  In  other  words,  the  great  seal 
and  evidence  of  the  victory  of  Christ  over  sin  and  death, 
as  our  surety,  would  be  wanting.  We  could  have  no  con- 
fidence in  the  efficacy  of  his  death  as  a  sacrifice  for  us. 
Life  and  immortality  would  be  still  in  darkness.  Our 
hope  would  want  its  corner-stone,  our  faith  its  warrant. 
Every  promise  of  the  Gospel  would  lack  the  signature  of 
him  who  only  can  fulfil  it.|  But,  saith  the  same  Apostle, 
"  Now  is  Christ  risen  from  the  dead  and  become  the  first 
fruits  of  them  that  slept."J  His  resurrection  was  not  only 
the  greatest  and  the  most  important  of  his  miraacles,  but 
the  most  abundantly  and  variously  attested.  We  have  only 
space  here  for  a  mere  glance  at  its  evidence. 

Prophets  had  for  many  centuries  foretold  that  Messiah 
would  rise  from  the  dead.§  Jesus  had  several  times  pre- 
dicted and  promised  it,  both  to  his  disciples  and  the  Jews. 

*  1  Cor.  xv.  14,  17,  18.  f  Rom.  i.  4.    Acts  xvii.  31;  &  xiii.  32,  33. 

1 1  (Jor.  xv.  20.  §  Ps.  xvi.  9, 10— cxxxii.  11.     Is.  liii.  10, 11,  12. 

Actsii.  30,  31. 

27 


418  SERMON    XIX. 

who  believed  not  on  him.*  So  well  did  the  Chief  Priests 
and  Pharisees  remember  his  words  and  the  exact  time 
that  he  said  he  would  lie  in  the  grave,  that  it  was  the 
alleged  ground  of  their  application  to  Pilate  for  a  guard 
of  soldiers  to  protect  the  sepulchre  from  any  attempt  of 
his  disciples,  apparently  to  make  good  the  prediction,  by 
stealing  away  his  body.  But  while  the  enemies  remem- 
bered so  well  his  saying,  his  disciples,  as  if  it  were  so 
ordered  to  increase  the  evidence,  had  no  recollection,  or 
no  idea  of  the  meaning,  of  his  words,  and  therefore  no 
preparation  either  to  expect  his  resurrection,  or  to  prac- 
tice the  fraud  which  the  Chief  Priests  apprehended.  But 
now  that  the  tomb  is  empty  on  the  predicted  third  day, 
notwithstanding  the  guard  of  Roman  soldiers,  determined 
as  they  valued  their  lives  to  keep  it  safely;  that  notori- 
ous fact  must  be  accounted  for.  The  grave-clothes  are 
there.  The  fact  of  the  burial  was  certain  and  notorious. 
Either  friends  or  enemies  must  have  removed  the  body;  or 
else  it  did  rise  from  death.  Enemies  of  course  did  not. 
Their  easy  and  triumphant  answer  to  the  preaching  of 
the  resurrection,  had  they  done  it,  would  have  been  to 
produce  the  body.  Did  friends  ?  Who  were  the  friends 
of  Jesus  ?  Eleven  Apostles,  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  and  a 
few  women !  The  first  were  so  overpowered  by  fear  that 
when  he  was  taken,  "  all  forsook  him  and  fled."|  But 
had  they  not  been  too  fearful  to  attempt  it,  in  the  face  of 
the  Roman  guard,  was  it  possible  for  them  to  accomplish 
it,  to  roll  away  that  great  stone,  and  bear  away  that 
burden,  so  jealously  and  so  strongly  watched  ?  Were  the 
soldiers  awake,  or  asleep?  Of  course,  the  latter,  if  that 

*  Matt.  xx.  18, 19.  fMatt,  xxvi.  56. 


THE   RESURRECTION   OF   CHRIST..  419 

robbery  was  committed.  But  what  less  than  miracle  put 
to  sleep  a  whole  Roman  guard,  on  such  a  night,  with  such 
a  trust,  and  under  such  responsibility,  and  kept  them  all 
so  fast  asleep  that  all  the  movement  of  all  the  men  neces- 
sary to  roll  away  the  stone,  and  force  the  tomb,  and  bear 
away  the  body,  did  not  arouse  them  ?  Seeing  then  that 
friends  could  not,  and  enemies  would  not,  remove  the  body, 
the  empty  sepulchre  was  negative  evidence  of  resurrec- 
tion. Then,  when  afterwards  Jesus  was  frequently  seen  and 
conversed  with ;  when  his  doubting  disciples  were  allowed 
to  touch  him,  to  place  their  hands  in  the  print  of  the 
wounds  in  his  hands  and  side ;  when  during  a  space  of 
forty  days  they  listened  to  his  instructions,  recognizing 
perfectly  the  well-known  countenance  and  voice,  and  the 
teaching  as  never  man  taught;  when  he  appeared  to 
"  more  than  five  hundred  brethren  at  once,"*  so  that,  as 
a  mere  historical  fact,  we  must  deny  the  evidence  of  all 
history,  if  we  question  there vidence  of  his  appearance  in 
the  body,  after  his  crucifixion ;  what  excuse  can  be  devised 
for  not  believing  that  he  was  risen  indeed  ?  Will  any  re- 
sort to  the  desparate  pretext  that  the  disciples  were  de- 
ceived? But,  as  men  of  ordinary  sense,  must  they  not 
have  known,  during  a  close  conversation  and  association  of 
forty  days,  whether  it  was  really  a  human  body  and  the 
body  of  Jesus  which  they  beheld,  or  not  ?  Will  you  im- 
agine a  miracle  of  blindness,  to  get  rid  of  a  miracle  of 
resurrection  ?  Will  you  take  another  expedient,  and  say 
they  were  not  deceived,  but  they  practiced  a  deception  ? 
Then  you  must  give  a  motive  to  account  for  such  a  de- 

*1  Cor.  xv.  6. 


420  SERMON  XIX. 

ception?  You  must  explain  how  men,  so  evidently  good 
men,  and  the  teachers  of  so  much  goodness,  and  the  influence 
of  whose  teaching  was,  and  is,  to  make  all  deception  ab- 
horred and  despised  ;  how  such  men  could  have  gone  out 
into  a  world  in  arms  against  them  and  their  doctrine,  and 
preached  everywhere  the  resurrection  of  Christ  as  the 
great  seal  of  the  gospel  and  corner-stone  of  their  mes- 
sage; knowing  that  they  would  draw  upon  them  the 
utmost  rage  and  persecution  that  man  could  shew ;  un- 
shaken by  any  dangers,  unwearied  by  any  sufferings ; 
cheerfully  losing  their  all,  and  submitting  to  tortures  and 
death,  that  they  might  preach  Jesus  and  the  resurrection. 
If  Christ  was  not  raised,  if  their  teaching  was  all  untrue, 
then  "were  they  of  all  men  most  miserable,"  having 
nothing  but  sufferings  here,  and  expecting  to  answer  for 
a  life-long  fraud  hereafter.  Will  you  imagine  a  miracle 
of  folly  that  you  may  escape  the  miracle  of  resurrection  ? 

But  there  was  an  evidence  if  possible,  more  convincing 
even  than  the  appearance  of  Jesus  to  his  disciples,  and 
his  frequent  association  with  them.  It  was  in  "  the  events 
of  the  day  of  Pentecost." 

Here  we  remark,  in  general,  that  his  resurrection  was 
the  great  sign  and  crowning  miracle  to  which  our  Lord, 
all  the  way  of  his  ministry,  to  the  day  of  his  crucifixion, 
referred  both  friends  and  opposers,  for  the  final  confirma- 
tion of  all  his  claims  and  doctrines.  He  staked  all  on  the 
promise  that  he  would  rise  from  death.  The  Jews  asked 
of  him  a  sign  that  they  might  believe.  He  answered, 
"There  shall  no  sign  be  given,  but  the  sign  of  the 
prophet  Jonas.  For  as  Jonas  was  three  days  and  three 
nights  in  the  whale's  belly,  so  shall  the  Son  of  Man  be 


THE   RESURRECTION   OP   CHRIST.  421 

three  days  and  three  nights  in  the  heart  of  the  earth."* 
Again,  in  answer  to  the  question  of  the  Jews,  "  What 
sign  shewest  thou  ?"  he  promised  the  same  sign,  "  Destroy 
this  temple  and  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  up."  "  He 
spake  (says  the  evangelist,)  of  the  temple  of  his  body."| 
Thus,  on  that  single  event,  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  the 
whole  of  Christianity,  as  it  all  centers  in,  and  depends  on 
him,  was  made  to  hinge.  Redemption  waited  the  evi- 
dence of  resurrection.  Nothing  was  to  be  accounted  as 
sealed  and  finally  certified  till  Jesus  should  deliver  himself 
from  the  power  of  death.  All  of  the  gospel,  all  the  hopes 
it  brings  to  us,  all  the  promises  with  which  it  comforts  us, 
were  taken  for  their  final  verdict,  as  true  or  false,  suffici- 
ent or  worthless,  to  the  door  of  that  jealously  guarded 
and  stone-sealed  sepulchre,  waiting  the  settlement  of  the 
question,  will  he  rise  ? 

It  was  a  wondrous  sign  to  choose.  The  mere  selection 
of  such  a  sign  by  Christ  himself,  was  itself  a  very  strong 
evidence  of  what  its  accomplishment  was  to  prove.  We 
do  not  wonder  that  the  enmity  of  the  Jews  was  all  cen- 
tered upon  the  watching  of  that  gate.  It  was  a  serious  night 
indeed,  to  friends  and  foes,  and  well  appreciated  among 
the  powers  of  darkness,  when  that  great  sign  was  to  be 
seen,  or  else  the  gospel  finally  contradicted.  But  an 
event  so  momentous  was  not  left  to  but  one  class  of  evi- 
dences. There  was  a  way  by  which  thousands  at  once 
were  made  to  receive  as  powerful  assurance  that  Christ  was 
risen,  as  if  they  had  seen  him  in  his  risen  body.  Jesus, 
before  his  death,  had  made  a  great  promise  to  his  dis- 
ciples, to  be  fulfilled  by  him,  only  after  his  death  and 

*  Matt.  xii.  38—40.  f  John  ii.  19. 


422  SERMON  XIX. 

resurrection;  a  promise  impossible  to  be  fulfilled  if  his 
resurrection  failed*;  because  then,  not  only  would  he  be 
under  the  power  of  death,  but  all  his  claim  to  divine 
power  would  be  brought  to  nought.  It  was  the  promise 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  "  When  the  Comforter  is  come  whom 
Izvill  send  unto  you  from  the  Father,  even  the  Spirit  of  truth 
which  proceedeth  from  the  Father,  he  shall  testify  of  me" 
"he  shall  glorify  me"* 

It  was  after  he  had  "  shown  himself  alive  after  his  pas- 
sion by  many  infallible  proofs,  being  seen  of  his  disciples 
forty  days,  and  speaking  to  them  of  the  things  pertain- 
ing to  the  kingdom  of  God,"  that  the  day  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  that  promise  came.  The  day  was  that  which 
commemorated  the  giving  of  the  law  on  Mount  Sinai.  It 
was  now  to  witness  the  going  forth  of  the  Gospel  from 
Jerusalem.  I  need  not  relate  to  you  the  wonderful  events 
of  that  day  of  Pentecost,  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
with  the  "sound  as  of  a  rushing  mighty  wind,"  that  "filled 
all  the  house;"  the  "cloven  tongues  like  as  of  fire," 
which  sat  on  each  of  the  disciples ;  the  evidence  that  it 
was  the  Spirit  of  God  which  had  then  come,  given  in  the 
sudden  and  astonishing  change  which  immediately  came 
over  the  Apostles,  transforming  them  from  weak  and  timid 
men  to  the  boldest  and  strongest ;  in  the  change  which 
suddenly  came  upon  the  power  of  their  ministry,  converting 
it  from  the  weak  agent  it  had  previously  been,  in  contact 
with  all  the  unbelief  and  wickedness  of  men,  into  an  in- 
strument so  mighty,  that  out  of  a  congregation  composed 
of  Jews  of  all  nations,  many  of  whom  had  probably  par- 
taken in  the  crucifixion  of  Christ,  three  thousand,  that  day, 
were  bowed  down  to  repentance  and  subdued  to  his  obedi- 

*  John  xv.  26  <fe  xvi.  14. 


THE   RESURRECTION   OP   CHRIST.  423 

ence.  I  need  not  remind  you  of  the  miraculous  attesta- 
tion that  all  this  was  from  God,  in  the  sudden  gift,  to  the 
Apostles,  of  divers  tongues,  whereby  they  preached  to  an 
audience  from  all  nations,  in  the  several  languages  in  which 
they  were  born;  nor  need  I  tell  you  of  the  immense  number 
of  people  that  witnessed  all  these  things.  Thus  the  power 
of  God  testified  of  Jesus.  Thus  Jesus  made  good  his 
word,  "  /  will  send  the  Holy  Ghost  and  he  shall  testify  of 
me."  How  could  he  thus  employ  the  power  of  God,  if 
the  great  sign,  appointed — his  resurrection,  had  failed  ? 
How  could  he  thus  shew  himself  mighty  to  raise  thous- 
ands from  the  death  of  sin  and  to  make  his  Apostles,  in  a 
moment,  preachers  in  all  languages,  if  the  power  of  death 
were  still  upon  him  ?  How  could  he  send  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  shew  such  mighty  signs,  who  was  still  bound  in  the 
sepulchre? 

Thus  was  the  day  of  Pentecost  a  great  day  of  testi- 
mony to  the  life  and  divine  power,  and  consequently  the 
resurrection,  of  Christ.  Each  of  those  who  heard  the 
divers  tongues  of  the  ministry  of  that  day,  each  of  the 
three  thousand,  was  a  witness  to  the  same.  All  "the  signs 
and  wonders,  and  divers  miracles  and  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,"  by  which  God  bore  witness  to  the  preaching  of 
the  Apostles,  as  in  all  their  ministry  they  made  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ  the  great  demonstration  of  their  mes- 
sage, all  testified  to  its  reality.  For,  would  God  accom- 
pany with  such  powers  the  constant  declaration  of  a  lie  ? 
But  witnesses  have  been  multiplying  by  thousands  ever 
since.  Every  man  that  receives  the  Holy  Ghost  to  raise 
him  from  the  death  of  sin  to  the  life  of  righteousness,  is 
a  witness.  He  can  testify  that  Christ  now  liveth,  and  is 


424  SERMON   XIX. 

exalted  to  the  right  hand  of  power,  and  is  able  to  make 
good  all  his  word,  because  he  hath  given  him  his  Spirit. 
He  hath  given  him  a  new  heart ;  he  hath  done  that  for  him 
which  only  a  power  above  man  could  do,  and  which  no  faith 
but  a  Christian  faith  ever  obtained.  And  his  question  is, 
can  he  be  dead,  lying  under  the  dominion  of  the  grave ;  can 
he  have  been  rejected  of  God,  who  hath  the  living  power 
to  do  these  things?  Thus  will  the  evidence  of  our  Lord's 
resurrection,  be  increasing  with  every  new  spiritual  resur- 
rection among  the  children  of  this  world,  until  that  day 
when  he  shall  "  come  in  the  glory  of  his  Father  and  all 
his  angels  with  him,"  and  when  "  every  eye  shall  see  him, 
and  they  also  which  pierced  him."  Then  will  "thepoiver 
of  his  resurrection"  be  known  in  the  universal  rising  of  the 
dead  at  his  word. 

We  said,  the  words  of  the  text,  in  the  mouths  of.  the 
Apostles,  were  words  of  conviction  and  of  joyfulness. 
Under  the  latter  head  we  proceed  next  to  consider  the 
subject  contained  in  them. 

II.  Words  of  joyfulness.  " The  Lord  is  risen  indeed" 
The  resurrection  of  Christ  was  the  resurrection  of  the 
faith  and  hopes  of  his  disciples  to  a  new  life  and  vigor. 
It  made  them  new  creatures,  as  to  all  joy  and  peace  in  be- 
lieving. "Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  who  according  to  his  abundant  mercy  hath  begot- 
ten us  again  unto  a  lively  hope,  by  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead,  to  an  inheritance  incorruptible 
and  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away."*  "The  Lord 
is  risen  indeed,"  was  an  exclamation  of  joy  equivalent  to, 
His  kingdom  shall  embrace  all  nations;  our  faith  shall 

*1  Pet.  i.  3—4. 


THE  RESURRECTION   OF   CHRIST.  425 

overcome  the  world ;    death  is  conquered ;    eternal  life  is 
the  heritage  of  all  believers. 

1st.  Let  us  consider  the  resurrection  of  Christ  in  its 
connection  with  his  death  as  an  atoning  sacrifice  for  sin. 
Suppose  that  after  we  have  commemorated  his  crucifixion, 
in  the  solemn  services  of  our  "  Good  Friday,"  we  had  no 
resurrection  to  commemorate,  in  the  customary  praises  of 
our  Easter  Sunday,  what  consolation  would  there  be  to  us 
in  the  former  ?  You  know  that  Jesus  became  "  obedient 
unto  the  death  of  the  cross  "  as  our  surety.  "  He  was 
made  sin  for  us."  "The  Lord  laid  on  him  the  iniquities 
of  us  all."  Our  sins  being  thus  imputed  to  him  as  our 
Representative,  he  was  treated,  in  his  death,  by  him  to 
whom  atonement  was  offered,  as  if  our  guilt  were  his  own. 
He  was  held  under  the  arrest  of  the  law  of  God.  Its 
penalty  was  required  of  him.  Every  jot  and  tittle  was  he 
to  pay,  and  not  till  all  was  discharged  could  he  be  justi- 
fied from  the  imputed  sin,  and  delivered  from  its  bonds. 
He  did  satisfy  the  law  to  the  uttermost,  and  was  justified 
in  behalf  of  all  those  in  whose  place  he  stood,  and  for 
whom  he  died.  But  how  is  that  ascertained  ?  Where  is 
the  evidence  ?  By  what  hath  God  declared  it  ?  The 
only  conclusive  evidence  of  justification  from  the  imput- 
ation of  sin,  is  the  release  of  him  to  whose  account  it  is 
laid.  Then  if  my  surety  were  still  under  the  bonds  of 
death,  and  lying  in  its  prison,  must  I  not  suppose  that  the 
arrest  of  the  law  which  he  came  to  satisfy,  is  still  holding 
him ;  that  the  price  of  my  redemption  has  not  been  all 
paid,  or  has  not  been  accepted ;  and  therefore  that  my 
hope  is  vain,  and  I  am  yet  under  condemnation  ?  But 
Christ  is  risen  indeed.  The  law  has  delivered  its  prisoner. 


426  SERMON  XIX. 

The  surety  comes  forth  from  the  grave.  "  Death  hath  no 
more  dominion  over  him."  He  is  "justified  in  the  Spirit" 
by  the  power  of  his  own  Spirit  raising  him  from  the  dead. 
Thus  was  his  justification  from  the  imputed  sins  of  men, 
declared  by  the  Spirit,  that  he  might  be  "believed  on  in 
the  world."*  In  his  resurrection,  "God  hath  given  as- 
surance unto  all  men,"  that  the  atonement  was  finished 
and  accepted,  the  surety  discharged,  the  hand  writing 
against  us  nailed  to  his  cross,  the  way  of  a  free  and  full 
remission  of  sins  laid  open;  that  Jesus  is  "able  to  save 
to  the  uttermost  all  who  come  unto  God  by  him,"  and 
that  in  him,  whosoever  believeth  shall  be  justified  perfectly, 
and  have  peace  with  God.  Thus  you  perceive  the  close 
connection  between  his  being  "delivered  for  our  offenses, 
anfr  raised  again  for  our  justification" 

2nd.  Let  us  consider  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord  in 
connection  with  his  making  intercession  for  us. 

You  must  not  suppose  that  the  whole  work  of  Christ,  as 
the  offerer  of  a  propitiation,  was  finished  on  the  cross. 
The  death  of  the  sacrifice  was  there  finished.  All  of  the 
office  of  our  atoning  Priest  and  victim  that  pertained  to 
the  altar  of  sacrifice,  in  the  court  of  the  sanctuary,  was 
there  completed.  But  there  was  a  work  remaining  to  be 
done  within  the  vail,  in  the  most  holy  place  of  the  sanc- 
tuary on  high,  in  the  presence  of  God  the  Father — a  work 
of  oblation  and  intercession,  in  the  presentation  of  the 
sacrifice. 

Those  two  chief  parts  of  the  Saviour's  priesthood,  were 
showed  in  the  typical  office  of  the  levitical  High  Priest 
on  "the  great  day  of  atonement."  In  the  solemn  servi- 
ces of  that  annual  expiation,  there  were  two  main  acts : 

*1  Tim.  iii.  16. 


THE   RESURRECTION   OF   CHRIST.  427 

the  slaying  of  the  victim,  and  the  presentation,  or  obla- 
tion, of  the  sacrifice.  The  former  was  done  only  at  the 
altar  of  burnt  offerings  in  the  court  of  the  temple ;  the 
latter  only  within  the  inner  vail,  when  the  High  Priest 
entered  the  most  holy  place,  with  the  blood,  and  sprinkled 
it  before  the  mercy  seat.  The  second  was  as  essential  as 
the  first.  It  was  only  when  the  oblation  in  the  most  holy 
place,  had  been  added  to  the  sacrificing  in  the  court  of  the 
sanctuary,  that  the  propitiation  became  effectual. 

This  type  could  be  fulfilled  in  our  Lord,  only  when  he 
who  was  the  Lamb  that  was  slain,  should  rise  from  death 
as  our  ever-living  Priest,  and  ascend  in  the  lody  that  was 
slain,  to  "  the  tabernacle  in  the  heavens,"  there  to  present 
himself  as  the  Lamb  of  God,  before  God,  and  make  inter- 
cession for  us,  in  virtue  of  his  having  been  sacrificed  for 
us.  Resurrection  was  thus  essential.  How  could  St. 
Paul  have  put  forth  that  triumphant  challenge,  "Who 
shall  lay  any  thing  to  the  charge  of  God's  elect  ?"  if  he 
could  not  have  said,  as  the  strength  of  his  confidence,  "  It 
is  Christ  that  died ;  yea,  rather  that  is  risen  again,  who  is 
even  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  who  also  maketh  interces- 
sion for  us?"*  Here  is  first  the  initiatory  work  of  our 
justification,  Christ  hath  died;  then  the  finishing  work  on 
his  part,  his  intercession  for  us  at  God's  right  hand ;  and 
between  them  is  the  connecting  fact,  he  is  risen  again. 
The  cross  being  thus  connected  with  the  throne — the 
death  with  the  intercession,  by  means  of  resurrection — we 
have  the  one  perfect  and  sufficient  oblation  and  satisfac- 
tion for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world. 

Thus  all  the  precious  mercies  that  flow  down  upon  a  guilty 

*Rom.  yiii.33,34. 


428  SERMON  XIX. 

world,  through  Christ — all  that  justifies  the  believer — all 
that  sanctifies  the  sinner — all  the  grace  by  which  our 
weakness  is  made  strong  and  our  darkness  is  made  "  light 
in  the  Lord,"  every  present  consolation  in  Christ,  and  all 
that  we  hope  to  find  in  him  during  the  trial  of  death, 
amidst  the  solemnities  of  the  judgment  day,  and  in  the 
everlasting  blessedness  of  the  kingdom  of  God — as  all 
depend  on  the  completion  of  his  office  in  his  everlasting 
Priesthood  in  heaven,  so  all  combine  to  teach  us  the  joy- 
fulness  of  the  assurance  that  "  the  Lord  is  risen  indeed" 

3d.  Let  us  next  consider  the  resurrection  of  Christ, 
as  it  is  connected  with,  and  insures,  the  promised  triumphs 
of  his  Church. 

The  Church  is  the  mystical  body  of  Christ,  inhabited 
and  made  alive  unto  God,  by  his  Holy  Spirit,  as  his  nat- 
ural body  was  inhabited  by  his  human  soul.  Of  the  lat- 
ter, the  promise  was,  that  "  His  soul  should  not  le  left  in 
hell,  neither  should  his  flesh  see  corruption"*  Concerning 
the  former,  the  promise  is,  "  The  gates  of  hell  shall  not  pre- 
vail against  it""\  In  both  promises,  the  word  hell,  stands, 
as  in  the  Apostles'  Creed,  for  Hades — the  region  and  domin- 
ion of  death.  In  the  first  promise,  the  meaning  was,  that 
the  powers  of  death  should  not  be  permitted  to  keep  the 
natural  body  of  our  Lord  in  their  dominions.  In  the 
second,  the  meaning  was,  that  all  the  powers  of  darkness, 
sitting  in  the  gates  of  the  dominion  of  death,  and  pour- 
ing forth  from  thence  their  forces  against  his  mystical 
body,  the  Church,  should  not  finally  prevail  against  it. 

How  the  powers  of  hell  endeavored,  not  only  to  subdue 
the  Captain  of  our  salvation,  but  after  he  was  shut  up 

*  Acts  ii.  31.  f  Matt.  xvi.  18. 


THE  RESURRECTION   OF   CHRIST.  429 

within  the  gates  of  death,  to  hold  him  there,  and  when  he 
arose  from  the  dead,  to  persuade  men  that  he  was  still 
there,  I  need  not  tell  you.  How  impossible  it  was  that 
he  should  be  holden  of  them,  when  the  set  time  to  come 
forth  had  arrived;  how  the  guard  was  made  to  swoon 
away,  and  there  was  a  great  earthquake,  and  an  angel 
rolled  the  stone  from  the  mouth  of  his  tomb,  and  Jesus 
came  forth,  bearing  "  the  keys  of  death  and  of  hell,"  the 
mighty  conqueror,  to  reign  forever  and  ever,  I  need  not 
tell  you.  But  in  that  triumph,  we  read  how  easily  and 
how  certainly  he  will  see  that  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not 
prevail  against  his  Church.  It  is  the  pledge  and  earnest 
that  all  his  glorious  promises  concerning  her  shall  be  ful- 
filled. 

Very  precious  and  glorious  are  those  promises.  The 
Church  is  to  embrace  all  nations.  The  stone  "cut  out  of 
the  mountain,  without  hands,"  is  to  become  a  great  moun- 
tain and  fill  the  whole  earth.*  "The  kingdom  and 
dominion  and  greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole 
heaven  shall  be  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the 
Most  High,  whose  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom,  and 
all  dominions  shall  serve  and  obey  hini."|  The  long  dis- 
persed of  Israel  and  Judah  are  to  be  summoned  from  out 
of  all  nations,  gathered  to  their  own  land,  converted  to 
Christ. J  Then  shall  "the  fullness  of  the  Gentiles  come 
in"  and  be  "as  life  from  the  dead."§ 

But  man  demands  a  sign  from  heaven  to  convince  him 
that  such  things  are  possible.  "What  sign  showest  thou, 
seeing  thou  wilt  do  all  these  things  ?"  The  answer  is,  the 

*  Dan.  ii.  34,  35—45.  f  Dan.  vii.  27.  +  Ezek.  xxxvi.  24—29,  and 

xxxvii.  15— 26.  §Rom.  xi.  25— 15. 


430  SERMON  XIX. 

sign  has  already  been  given.  "I  am  he  that  liveth  and 
was  dead ;  and  behold,  I  am  alive  forever  more.  Amen, 
and  have  the  keys  of  of  hell  and  death."*  Jesus,  risen 
from  the  dead,  is  the  sign  unto  the  end  of  the  world,  to 
assure  the  Church  and  the  world  that  not  a  jot  or  tittle  of 
what  he  hath  promised,  by  the  scriptures,  shall  fail.  "  I 
am  the  resurrection  and  the  life,"  saith  the  Lord.  "  Fear 
not,  therefore,  little  flock,  for  it  is  your  Father's  good 
pleasure  to  give  you  the  kingdom."  "  Because  I  live,  ye 
shall  live  also."  Great  tribulations  and  persecutions,  and 
falling  away  from  the  truth,  may  yet  befall  the  Church,  as 
in  times  past.  It  may  seem,  once  more,  as  if  she  had  gone 
almost  to  the  grave.  Priests  of  Antichrist,  in  league 
with  the  gates  of  hell,  may  conspire  to  keep  her  in  prison 
and  in  darkness,  fast  bound  in  chains,  such  as  they  well 
know  how  to  forge.  But  they  shall  not  prevail.  The 
captive  shall  be  delivered.  "  The  Lord  shall  be  her  light," 
and  "the  days  of  her  mourning  shall  be  ended."  Such, 
in  point  of  tribulation,  has  been  her  history  more  than 
once  already.  Think  of  the  fearful  corruption  and  dark- 
ness, and  bondage,  and  persecution,  and  spiritual  death, 
with  which  the  Papal  dominion,  the  power  of  "  the  Man 
of  Sin,"  who, "  as  God  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God,  show- 
ing himself  that  he  is  God,"f  did  once,  and  for  a  long 
time,  oppress  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  drove  the  few 
faithful  witnesses  of  the  truth,  that  remained,  into  the 
wilderness,  into  prisons  and  dens,  and  caves  of  the  earth, 
so  that  it  seemed  as  if  there  was  hardly  faith  left  on  the 
earth.  But  though  Amalek  was  thus  long  victorious,  there 
were  a  faithful  few,  a  little  scattered  flock,  a  remnant,  as 

*Rev.  i.  18.  fSThess.  ii.  3,4. 


THE  RESURRECTION   OF   CHRIST.  431 

in  the  days  of  Elijah  the  prophet,  who  held  up  their  hands 
to  God  in  prayer,  and  ceased  not,  till  God  raised  up  his 
faithful  witness,  Martin  Luther,  and  gave  him  the  trumpet 
of  the  sanctuary  to  sound  an  alarm  and  proclaim  anew  his 
truth.  The  wonderful  awakening  of  the  Church,  as  from 
the  dead,  in  that  day ;  that  manifestation  of  the  power  of 
her  risen  Head,  to  be  unto  her  "the  resurrection  and  the 
life,"  is  a  standing  and  glorious  testimony  to  all  ages,  and 
for  all  future  trials,  how  little  her  faithful  people  have  to 
fear,  and  how  certain  are  the  promises  of  a  final  possession, 
by  her  Lord,  of  the  whole  kingdom  of  this  world,  in  his 
time.  Her  grave  clothes  shall  be  laid  aside — her  sack- 
cloth will  be  cast  away.  "As  a  bride  adorned  with  her 
jewels,"  will  she  come  forth,  leaning  on  the  hand  of  her 
Lord.  "  Voices  in  heaven  "  shall  be  heard,  "  saying,  The 
kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our 
Lord  and  of  his  Christ,  and  he  shall  reign  forever  and 


ever." 


Now,  it  deserves  your  attention,  that  when  the  scrip- 
tures speak  of  great  conversions  of  nations  and  millions 
to  the  Gospel,  as  connected  with  the  second  advent 
of  our  Lord,  and  which  are  to  bring  in  his  millennial 
reign,  the  change  is  represented  as  one  of  impossibility  to 
human  strength,  of  hopelessness  to  human  wisdom  and 
foresight,  of  magnitude  and  wonder  and  miracle,  equal  to 
that  of  a  resurrection  of  the  dead.  Read  the  37th  chap- 
ter of  Ezekiel.  It  is  an  account  of  the  restoration  of  the 
Jews,  of  the  lost  ten  tribes,  as  well  as  of  Judah  and  Benja- 
min, to  their  own  land ;  their  being  united  together  again 
as  one  nation ;  their  being  cleansed  from  their  sins  and 
converted  to  Christ,  so  as  to  have  the  Son  of  David  for 


432  SERMON   XIX. 

their  acknowledged  King  and  Shepherd  forever,  and  his 
sanctuary  in  the  midst  of  them  for  evermore;  and  all 
these  wonderful  changes  are  described  under  the  figure  of 
the  resurrection  of  a  whole  nation  from  the  dead.  The 
Prophet  was  "  carried  out  in  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  and 
set  down  in  the  midst  of  a  valley  which  was  full  of  bones," 
and  was  made  to  pass  round  them  to  observe  their  state. 
"  There  were  very  many  in  the  open  valley,  and  lo,  they 
were  very  dry."  Then  the  question  was  asked  him,  "Can 
these  bones  live  ?"  In  other  words,  what  can  be  more 
hopeless  to  all  human  view,  than  the  condition  of  these 
bones  ?  How  is  it  possible  they  can  be  gathered  from 
this  wide  and  promiscuous  dispersion,  so  long  exposed  and 
bleached,  and  mingled  together  in  this  open  valley,  car- 
ried by  beasts  of  prey  hither  and  thither ;  how  can  they 
be  made  to  resume  their  former  places,  each  in  its  own 
body,  bone  to  its  bone,  and  stand  up  alive  ?  The  Proph- 
et's faith  could  answer  no  further  than  by  referring  the 
question  to  the  power  of  God  :  "  0  Lord  God,  thou  know- 
est."  Then  came  the  command,  "  Prophesy  upon  these 
bones,  say  unto  them,  Hear  the  word  of  the  Lord."  How 
could  the  dead  hear?  But  the  Prophet  obeyed.  "And 
there  was  a  noise,  and  behold  a  shaking,  and  bones  came 
to  bones,  lone  to  his  lone"  Each  resumed  its  original  place 
in  its  own  body,  "  and  the  sinews  and  the  flesh  came  upon 
them,  and  the  skin  covered  them  above."  But  as  yet 
there  was  no  life  in  them.  The  Prophet,  as  commanded, 
prophesied  again,  and  "the  breath  came  into  them,  and 
they  lived  and  stood  up  an  exceeding  great  army."  Then 
came  the  interpretation  of  the  Lord :  "  These  bones  are 
the  whole  house  of  Israel ;  behold,  they  say,  Our  bones 


THE   RESURRECTION    OF   CHRIST.  433 

are  dried  and  our  hope  is  lost.  Behold,  0  rny  people,  I 
will  open  your  graves  and  cause  you  to  come  out  of  your 
graves,  and  bring  you  into  the  land  of  Israel,  and  put  my 
Spirit  in  you,  and  ye  shall  live  and  know  that  I  am  the 
Lord." 

Now,  what  says  the  unbelief  of  the  world,  as  it  looks 
over  the  present  condition  of  the  Jews,  so  widely  dispersed, 
so  mixed  up  among  themselves,  so  mixed  up  among  all 
nations,  the  ten  tribes  so  lost  that  none  know  where  they 
are;  all  so  hardened  against  the  Gospel?  "Surely  their 
bones  are  dried  and  their  hope  is  lost."  We  ask  the 
faith  of  man,  Can  these  dry  bones  live  ?  Can  the  promises 
of  the  scriptures,  concerning  these  people,  be  fulfilled  ? 
We  do  not  wonder  that  many  ridicule  the  idea;  that 
others  are  unable  to  entertain  it,  seeing  how  few  are 
content  with  the  answer  of  the  Prophet,  "Lord  thou 
knowest."  The  difficulties  are  as  insuperable  to  human 
might  as  the  raising  of  the  dead.  So  was  it  intended  that 
we  should  regard  them.  We  have  no  desire  to  lessen  the 
appearance  of  impossibility,  except  to  him  who  is  "  the 
Resurrection  and  the  Life." 

But  carry  the  use  of  the  Prophet's  vision  beyond  the 
people  of  Israel.  The  state  of  the  population  of  the 
whole  unconverted  world,  may  be  seen  in  that  valley  of 
bones.  Converted  unto  God,  it  is  all  to  be.  The 
heathen  are  already  given  to  the  Lord,  our  Saviour,  "  for 
an  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  a 
possession ; "  and  a  day  is  fast  coming  when  the  possession 
and  inheritance  shall  be,  not  only  given,  but  received  and 
entered  on.  But  what  immeasurable  difficulties  oppose 
such  a  conversion  and  regeneration;  such  impossibilities! 
28 


434  SERMON  XIX. 

What!  shall  the  little  flock  of  the  true  people  of  God, 
possess  such  a  kingdom ;  shall  this  little  stone  ever  fill 
the  whole  earth ;  can  all  these  nations,  so  long  dead  and 
buried  under  vices,  and  superstitions,  and  idolatries,  and 
all  darkness,  and  perversions  of  mind,  for  so  many  centu- 
sies? — Can  they  be  made  all  to  turn  unto  Christ,  and  live 
as  his  people  ?  Make  the  hopelessness  of  such  an  event, 
to  human  power,  as  great  as  you  please.  The  reality 
cannot  be  exaggerated.  Hopeless,  it  is  indeed,  if  the  power 
of  the  Church,  without  the  power  of  its  Lord,  or  without 
a  far  mightier  putting  forth  of  his  power,  than  the  Church 
has  known  since  her  first  days,  is  to  be  our  whole  trust. 
But  our  assured  answer  to  all  difficulties  is  the  resur- 
rection of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead.  His  word 
assures  us  that  such  great  things  are  promised.  His  resur- 
rection assures  us  that,  because  promised,  they  can  and 
will  be  accomplished.  What  is  there  in  all  of  them  more 
hopeless,  more  impossible,  than  seemed  the  resurrection 
of  Christ,  during  those  days  in  which  he  lay  in  the  grave  ? 
To  the  heathen,  nothing  was  more  impossible  than  that 
the  dead  should  be  raised.  Pliny  said  that  to  bring  them 
back  to  life  (Revocare  defunctos}  was  one  of  those  things 
which  even  God  could  not  do.  Festus  thought  Paul  mad, 
and  the  Athenians  mocked  at  him,  because  he  preached 
the  resurrection.  And  are  there  any  bonds  holding  the 
Jews  in  unbelief,  stronger  than  those  which  held  our 
Lord's  body  in  death  ?  Are  there  any  barriers  between 
the  resuscitation  of  the  Jews,  as  a  nation,  and  their  being 
restored  to  their  own  land,  more  impossible  than  those 
between  our  dead,  and  buried,  Lord,  and  the  kingdom  on 
high,  to  which  he  ascended  ?  Have  the  powers  of  dark- 


THE  RESURRECTION   OF   CHRIST.  435 

ness  acquired  a  more  hopeless  dominion  over  the  heathen 
world,  than  they  seemed  to  have  obtained  over  the  rejected, 
and  crucified,  and  lifeless  Head  of  all  the  promises  of  the 
Gospel?  Is  there  any  thing  to  discourage  the  Christian 
from  expecting  that  the  Jews,  and  the  heathen,  will  ever 
live  unto  God  as  a  Christian  people  and  Church ;  is  their 
any  thing  to  make  the  unbeliever  moek  at  such  an  expec- 
tation, which  had  not  its  perfect  equal  when  Jesus  lay  in 
the  sepulchre ;  his  disciples  scattered  and  dismayed  ;  his 
enemies  scoffing,  and  triumphing?  But  "the  Lord  is 
risen  indeed"  Those  impossibilities  were  all  brought  to 
nought.  He  rose,  the  "Lord  of  all  power  and  might." 
Death  could  not  hold  him  from  ascending  to  his  Father. 
The  nations  could  not  prevent  him  from  fulfilling  his  word- 
All  that  he  hath  said  shall  be  done.  The  greatest  is  done 
already.  Did  he  raise  himself  from  death  ?  Then  he 
can,  and  will,  bring  Jews  and  Gentiles  to  spiritual  life; 
because  he  has  promised.  "God  hath  given  assurance 
unto  all  men,  in  that  he  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead" 

5th.  Lastly,  we  must  consider  the  Resurrection  of 
Christ,  in  its  connection  with  that  of  his  people,  who  sleep 
in  him.  There  must  be  "  the  redemption  of  the  body" 
because  Man  is  already  redeemed.  Our  Lord  will  not 
leave  his  work  unfinished.  "Your  body  is  the  temple 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  and  he  will  not  leave  it  in  ruin  and 
desolation,  polluted  and  outcast.  He  will  build  it  again,  and 
in  far  more  than  its  original  beauty.  It  partook  of  the 
sin,  and  the  condemnation,  and  penalty.  In  the  case 
of  all  believers,  it  must  partake  of  the  justification  and 
the  glory.  What  God  joined  together  in  the  fall,  he  will 
join  together  in  the  restoration.  "  We  shall  all  be  changed ; 


436  SERMON   XIX. 

in  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  at  the  last 
trump."  "  This  corruptible  must  put  on  incorruptible, 
and  this  mortal,  immortality."  The  sign,  the  pledge,  the 
assurance,  of  all  is  that  the  Lord  is  risen.  Believers  are 
members  of  a  mystical  body,  of  which  he  is  head.  Be- 
cause he  lives,  they  shall  live  also.  He  can  no  more  per- 
mit the  gates  of  Hell  to  prevail  over  them,  to  keep  them 
in  death,  than  he  would  allow  them  to  prevail  over  him. 
When  he  rose,  as  when  he  died  and  was  buried,  it  was  in 
his  federal  relation,  as  the  surety  and  representative  of  his 
people.  In  him  the  believer  rose  also.  Our  graves  were 
opened,  when  the  stone  was  rolled  from  his  sepulchre. 
Our  victory  over  death  was  secured,  when  he  burst  its 
bonds  and  came  forth  free.  Beautifully  is  the  argument 
from  his  resurrection,  to  ours,  delivered  in  St.  Paul's  allu- 
sion to  the  presentation  of  the  sheaf  of  the  first  ripe 
wheat,  in  the  temple,  "Now  is  Christ  risen  from  the  dead 
and  become  the  first  fruits  of  them  that  slept."*  The 
Jews  were  prohibited  the  gathering  of  the  harvest,  until 
the  first  fruits  were  offered  to  God  as  an  acknowledgment 
of  his  goodness  in  the  products  of  the  ground.  Till  then, 
the  harvest  was  regarded  as  unholy — unconsecrated.  The 
great  proprietor  had  not  received  his  tribute.  That  done, 
all  was  considered  as  acknowledged  to  be  his  own,  and 
was  received  by  the  people  as  from  him,  and  the  harvest, 
so  consecrated,  was  secure  to  be  reaped  and  gathered. 
Vast  is  the  harvest  of  the  dead,  lying  ungathered.  The 
people  of  God  of  all  generations,  in  the  graves  of  earth 
and  sea,  under  all  skies,  dust  on  dust,  an  immense  commu- 
nity, precious  beyond  thought  to  him  who  died  for  them ; 

*  1  Cor.  xv.  20. 


THE   RESURRECTION   OF    CHRIST.  437 

'  field  from  which  the  angels  may  gather  for  the 
s  of  heaven !     It  is  all  ready,  only  waiting   "  the 
f  the  Arch-angel  and  the  trump  of  God/'  that  the 
aay  begin  ;  for  the  first  fruits  have  been  already 
ed.     Jesus,  "  the  first  begotten  from  the  dead," 
ssed  within  the  vail,  and  now  appears  in  the  pres- 
God  for  us.     Thus  the  whole  harvest  of  the  dead 
st,   is   consecrated   and   pledged.      It   must  be 
d,  for   the  Lord  is  its  owner.     Oh  glorious  day, 
e  trump  of  God,  sounding  from  heaven,  shall  give 
al,  and  "  in  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye," 
I  in  Christ  shall  all  come  forth !     Oh  that  Jubilee? 
r  of  all  years,  and  end  of  all  times,  for  which  all 
id  dispensations  have  been  preparing ;  when  every 
of  the  Lord's  household,  now  in  the  captivity 
ol  v*.    .^,  shall   go  free,  and  all  debts  of  God's  people 
to  his  law,  shall  be  finally  cancelled,  and  all  the  true  Is- 
rael,  from  their   wide  dispersions,  and  separations,  and 
bondage,  shall  go  home,  returning  "to  Zion  with  songs 
and  everlasting  joy  on  their  heads;"  when  loved  ones 
shall  meet  again  to  be  no  more  divided,  and  the  great 
family,    the  vast  communion,  the  universal  brotherhood 
of  Christ,  shall  meet  in  their  heavenly  Jerusalem,  to  keep 
their  feast  of  redemption  and  blessedness  for  evermore ; 
every  trace  of  the  curse  and  the  death  abolished ;  every 
risen  saint  beholding  in  each  brother,  the  likeness  of  the 
glory  of  his  Lord !     That  will  be   "a  holy  convocation 
unto  God,"  indeed.    How  will  they  crowd  the  battlements 
of  Zion,  to  look  down  upon  the  deserted  graves,  and  the 
whole  vanquished  and  ruined  dominion  of  death,  whence 
they  have  been  ransomed !     How  will  they  fill  that  Holy 


436  SERMON   XIX. 

in  a   moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  at  tlr 
trump."     "  This  corruptible  must  put  on  incorri 
and  this  mortal,  immortality."     The  sign,  the  pled 
assurance,  of  all  is  that  the  Lord  is  risen.     Belie v» 
members  of  a  mystical  body,  of  which  he  is  hea< 
cause  he  lives,  they  shall  live  also.     He  can  no  m 
mit  the  gates  of  Hell  to  prevail  over  them,  to  kef 
in  death,  than  he  would  allow  them  to  prevail  ov 
When  he  rose,  as  when  he  died  and  was  buried,  it 
his  federal  relation,  as  the  surety  and  representatr 
people.     In  him  the  believer  rose  also.     Our  gra^ 
opened,  when   the  stone  was  rolled  from  his  sc 
Our  victory  over  death  was  secured,  when  he   ' 
bonds  and  came  forth  free.     Beautifully  is  the  ' 
from  his  resurrection,  to  ours,  delivered  in  St.  I 
sion  to  the  presentation  of  the  sheaf  of  the  ^    .  ripe 
wheat,  in  the  temple,  "Now  is  Christ  risen  from  the  dead 
and  become  the  first  fruits  of  them  that  slept."*     The 
Jews  were  prohibited  the  gathering  of  the  harvest,  until 
the  first  fruits  were  offered  to  God  as  an  acknowledgment 
of  his  goodness  in  the  products  of  the  ground.     Till  then, 
the  harvest  was  regarded  as  unholy — unconsecrated.     The 
great  proprietor  had  not  received  his  tribute.     That  done, 
all  was  considered  as  acknowledged  to  be  his  own,  and 
was  received  by  the  people  as  from  him,  and  the  harvest, 
so   consecrated,  was  secure  to  be  reaped  and  gathered. 
Vast  is  the  harvest  of  the  dead,  lying  ungathered.     The 
people  of  God  of  all  generations,  in  the  graves  of  earth 
and  sea,  under  all  skies,  dust  on  dust,  an  immense  commu- 
nity, precious  beyond  thought  to  him  who  died  for  them ; 

*  1   Cor.  xv.  20, 


THE   RESURRECTION   OF    CHRIST.  437 

what  a  field  from  which  the  angels  may  gather  for  the 
garners  of  heaven !  It  is  all  ready,  only  waiting  "  the 
voice  of  the  Arch-angel  and  the  trump  of  God/'  that  the 
work  may  begin ;  for  the  first  fruits  have  been  already 
presented.  Jesus,  "  the  first  begotten  from  the  dead," 
hath  passed  within  the  vail,  and  now  appears  in  the  pres- 
ence of  God  for  us.  Thus  the  whole  harvest  of  the  dead 
in  Christ,  is  consecrated  and  pledged.  It  must  be 
gathered,  for  the  Lord  is  its  owner.  Oh  glorious  day, 
when  the  trump  of  God,  sounding  from  heaven,  shall  give 
the  signal,  and  "  in  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye," 
the  dead  in  Christ  shall  all  come  forth !  Oh  that  Jubilee* 
that  year  of  all  years,  and  end  of  all  times,  for  which  all 
cycles  and  dispensations  have  been  preparing ;  when  every 
bondsman  of  the  Lord's  household,  now  in  the  captivity 
of  death,  shall  go  free,  and  all  debts  of  God's  people 
to  his  law,  shall  be  finally  cancelled,  and  all  the  true  Is- 
rael, from  their  wide  dispersions,  and  separations,  and 
bondage,  shall  go  home,  returning  "to  Zion  with  songs 
and  everlasting  joy  on  their  heads;"  when  loved  ones 
shall  meet  again  to  be  no  more  divided,  and  the  great 
family,  the  vast  communion,  the  universal  brotherhood 
of  Christ,  shall  meet  in  their  heavenly  Jerusalem,  to  keep 
their  feast  of  redemption  and  blessedness  for  evermore ; 
every  trace  of  the  curse  and  the  death  abolished ;  every 
risen  saint  beholding  in  each  brother,  the  likeness  of  the 
glory  of  his  Lord !  That  will  be  "a  holy  convocation 
unto  God,"  indeed.  How  will  they  crowd  the  battlements 
of  Zion,  to  look  down  upon  the  deserted  graves,  and  the 
whole  vanquished  and  ruined  dominion  of  death,  whence 
they  have  been  ransomed !  How  will  they  fill  that  Holy 


438  SERMON   XIX. 

City  with  their  praises,  as  they  cry,  with  one  voice, 
"  Thanks  be  to  God  which  giveth  us  the  victory  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  Then  will  it  be  said,  as  never 
before  it  could  be  said,  "The  Lord  is  risen  indeed"  risen 
in  his  mystical  body,  the  Church,  for  which,  in  his  natural 
body,  he  died  and  rose  again.  Then  his  work  is  done, 
redemption  is  complete;  the  fullness  of  his  glory  as  the 
Saviour  of  sinners  is  consummated,  and  the  year  of  his 
redeemed  is  come.  Oh,  may  our  eyes  see  that  endless 
year !  May  our  feet  stand  in  thy  gates,  Oh  Jerusalem, 
to  have  part  with  them  that  shall  keep  that  feast ! 

Brethren,  what  shall  we  do  that  we  may  rise  to  that 
resurrection  of  life,  and  belong  to  that  blessed  company  ? 
I  have  time  but  for  one  brief  answer,  "Seek  those  things 
which  are  above,  where  Christ  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of 
God.  Set  your  affections  on  things  above,  not  on  things 
on  the  earth."  Make  Christ  your  heart's  treasure  and 
hope,  and  he  will  make  you,  and  keep  you,  as  his  own 
dear  treasure ;  and  at  last  will  receive  you  unto  himself, 
as  the  crown  jewels  of  his  kingdom. 


SEBMOJN  IX. 

THE  RESURRECTION  OF  THE  DEAD  IN  CHRIST. 


JOHN  xi.  23. 

"  Thy  brother  shall  rise  again."  * 

THIS  was  the  consolation  administered  by  our  Lord  to 
the  sorrowing  sisters  of  his  friend  Lazarus,  who  was  dead, 
and  whose  body  had  been  already  three  days  in  the 
grave. 

Martha  and  Mary  had  sent  unto  Jesus  saying,  "  Lord, 
behold  he  whom  thou  lovest  is  sick."  They  had  long  in 
vain  expected  that  he  would  visit  them  in  their  affliction, 
and  heal  their  brother.  Now  that  all  was  over,  and  it 
seemed  too  late  to  do  any  good  except  to  help  them  bear 
their  loss,  they  heard  that  Jesus  was  coming.  Martha 
immediately  went  to  meet  him.  "Mary  sat  still  in  the 
house."  Her  sister's  first  words  were:  "Lord,  if  thou 
hadst  been  here  my  brother  had  not  died;  but  I  know 
that  even  now,  whatsoever  thou  wilt  ask  of  God,  God  will 
give  it  thee."  She  had  great  faith  in  the  intercession  of 
Christ.  She  modestly  suggested  what  her  heart  wished 
him  to  intercede  for.  Mary,  when  she  afterwards  met 
him,  repeated  her  sister's  lament:  "Lord,  if  thou  hadst 

*  Written  immediately  after  the  death  of  a  dear  son,  and  soon  after  the  death 
of  the  author's  eldest  daughter.  Re-written  on  the  anniversary  of  the  son's 
death — a  father's  remembrance,  in  this  volume,  of  both. 


440  SERMON  XX. 

been  here  my  brother  had  not  died."  She  made  no  re- 
quest, nor  suggested  any.  Probably  she  thought  they 
had  nothing  now  to  do  but  to  drink  the  cup  of  affliction 
that  was  given  them,  and  to  say  in  their  hearts,  "  thy 
will  be  done." 

To  the  half-uttered  petition  of  Martha,  Jesus  said: 
"  Thy  brother  shall  rise  again"  In  the  faith  of  the  de- 
vout readers  of  the  Old  Testament  scriptures,  Martha 
replied:  "1  know  that  he  shall  rise  again  in  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  last  day."  The  faith  of  God's  people  was 
strong  and  distinct,  before  the  brighter  revelation  of  the 
Gospel,  as  to  the  final  and  general  resurrection  of  the 
dead,  though  Sadducees  denied,  and  Pharisees  corrupted, 
the  doctrine.  Martha  knew  not  the  whole  meaning  of  Jesus 
concerning  her  brother,  until  she  saw,  what  her  heart  was  set 
on,  Lazarus  coming  forth,  that  day,  risen  from  the  dead. 

Here  we  may  reasonably  say — why  should  those  affec- 
tionate and  pious  sisters  have  desired  that  their  brother 
should  rise  from  the  dead,  before  that  last  day,  when  all 
tribulations  will  be  ended,  and  they  and  he  will  never 
be  separated  again  ?  He  died  in  faith ;  he  rests  from  his 
labors;  he  has  no  more  tears  to  wipe  away,  no  more  con- 
flicts with  sin;  his  race  is  ended,  his  victory  gained. 
Would  ye  call  him  back  to  such  sorrows  as  belong  to  this 
vale  of  tears  ?  Why  say,  "Lord,  if  thou  hadst  been  here 
my  brother  had  not  died."  Why  wish  he  had  not  died; 
especially,  why  hope  he  may  rise  again,  before  the  resur- 
rection of  all  the  dead  ? 

But  how  natural  that  feeling  and  that  desire  of  those 
afflicted  sisters!  And  how  often,  in  spirit,  do  we  imi- 
tate them!  Is  it  wise?  A  beloved  one  has  died. 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  THE  DEAD  IN  CHRIST.  441 

We  have  laid  his  precious  remains  in  its  narrow  home, 
"  looking  for  the  general  resurrection  in  the  last  day,  and 
the  life  of  the  world  to  come,  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  We  feel  a  precious  confidence  that  he  died  in 
the  Lord,  and  that  therefore  his  soul  is  with  the  Lord;  all 
sin,  and  pain,  and  trial,  and  peril  of  life  eternal,  ended,  in 
the  rest  which  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God.  Could 
we  meet  the  Lord  at  the  grave,  and  he  should  bid  us  ask 
what  we  would;  what  petition  would  our  hearts,  torn  with 
bereavement,  offer?  Would  it  be,  the  opening  of  that 
grave ;  the  restoration  to  us  of  that  dear  one — to  die 
again  ?  I  cannot  say  what  a  poor,  bleeding,  heart  would 
answer  in  its  weakness.  I  fear  it  might  say  what  Martha 
almost  said,  and  did  desire.  But  I  know  what  would  be 
the  prayer  of  the  wisest  love — infinitely  the  best  for  him 
we  love  and  mourn  for, — Let  the  stone  remain  at  the  door 
of  the  sepulchre ;  let  the  seal  continue  unbroken  upon 
the  bonds  of  death ;  let  dust,  dwell  with  dust,  and  ashes 
with  ashes,  till  there  shall  be  no  more  death,  nor  pain,  nor 
woes,  nor  sin ;  till  that  day  when  "  corruption  shall  put  on 
incorruption,  and  mortal  immortality,"  and  when  "  them 
that  sleep  in  Jesus,  will  God  bring  with  him,"  and  "so 
they  shall  ever  be  with  the  Lord."  Yes,  brethren,  the 
consolation  with  which  Jesus  meets  us  at  every  stage  of 
our  sorrow,  concerning  those  who  sleep  in  him ;  the  sweet 
assurance  which  the  hand  of  God's  love  has  written  for 
our  faith  to  read,  over  every  sepulchre  of  his  people,  is — 
Thy  brother,  thy  parent,  thy  sister,  thy  child,  shall  rise 
again;  and  it  is  our  privilege  unspeakable  to  answer,  (and 
oh,  how  a  bereaved,  believing,  heart,  does  love  that  answer,) 
"  I  know  that  he  shall  rise  again  in  the  resurrection  of 


442  SERMON  xx. 

the  last  day."  It  is  enough.  We  bless  thee,  Lord,  for 
that  consolation.  We  ask  no  better.  We  will  wait ;  pa- 
tiently, thankfully,  joyfully  we  will  wait  that  day. 

Brethren,  we  bring  before  you,  to-day,  the  subject  of 
" the  resurrection  of  the  lody"  Conspicuous  in  the  scrip- 
tures, under  a  variety  of  declarations,  it  has  been  promi- 
nent and  positive  in  the  creed  of  the  Church  of  all  ages. 
Precious  to  the  hearts  of  those  who  mourn  for  the  dead, 
it  vitally  concerns  the  completeness,  and  therefore  the 
whole  reality,  of  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus. 
No  doctrine  of  the  scriptures  was  more  utterly  derided 
and  rejected  as  impossible  by  the  heathen  philosophers, 
whom  the  Gospel  encountered  in  its  first  aggressions  into 
the  territory  of  paganism.  No  doctrine  was  more  con- 
stantly preached,  or  more  boldly  gloried  in,  by  the  primi- 
tive disciples  of  Christ.  Paul  boldly  preached  before  the 
philosophers  of  Athens  "Jesus  and  the  resurrection" 
The  Stoics  and  Epicureans  of  that  classic  city,  "mocked," 
because  he  did  so.  The  primitive  Christians  triumphed  in 
the  expectation  of  a  joyful  resurrection  of  the  body, 
though  fires  of  martyrdom  consumed  it,  or  wild  beasts  of 
the  amphitheatre  devoured  it;  and  that  article  of  their 
faith  was  at  once  so  notorious  and  so  derided,  that  their 
persecutors  burned  all  that  remained  of  the  martyrs,  and 
then  scattered  the  ashes  on  the  rivers,  and  to  the  winds, 
to  be  borne  to  all  lands — a  contemptuous  expression  of 
how  incredible  they  thought  it  that  God  should  raise  the 
dead. 

But,  let  unbelief  deride  or  reject  as  it  may,  we  know, 
and  we  joyfully  hold  fast  the  faith,  that  "  the  earth  and 
the  sea  shall  give  up  their  dead."  Our  brethren  "that 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  THE  DEAD  IN  CHRIST.  443 

sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth  "  "  shall  rise  again  in  the 
resurrection  of  the  last  day."  But  it  is  important  on  a 
subject,  so  prominent  in  our  creed,  so  mysterious  in  its 
details,  so  exclusively  dependent  upon  revelation,  on 
which  imagination  and  speculation  may  so  easily  go  astray 
and  be  wise  above  what  is  written,  exposing  themselves, 
and  the  subject,  to  the  derision  of  the  infidel,  that  we 
should  know  distinctly  what  is  known  concerning  it,  and 
on  what  grounds  it  is  known.  We  take,  therefore,  our 
text,  "tliy  brother  shall  rise  again;"  and  our  enquiry  will 
be,  ivhat  is  contained  in  that  assurance,  and  what  is  its  evi- 
dence ? 

I.  What  is  contained  in  that  assurance,  or  what  is 
meant  in  the  scriptures  by  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  ? 

What  if  I  should  tell  you  that  it  does  not  mean  that 
the  body  of  your  brother,  which  you  lay  in  the  grave,  will 
ever  rise  again ;  that  the  only  meaning  is  that  his  soul 
shall,  in  the  last  day,  be  re-invested  with  some  body  to 
dwell  in ;  not  its  own  body  that  it  before  inhabited,  but  a 
body,  no  matter  whence  produced?  Would  you  not  an- 
swer me — can  that  be  called  a  resurrection  of  the  dead  ? 
Does  not  resurrection,  in  the  very  name,  imply  the  rising 
up  to  life  of  that  which  did  once  live  and  is  now  dead? 
Call  it  a  substitution  for  the  dead,  and  we  can  understand  it. 
But  to  call  it  a  resurrection,  is  a  glaring  departure  from 
the  propriety  of  speech.  So  we  say.  But  yet  that  is  the 
idea  of  the  resurrection  which  we  too  often  find  in  books 
and  in  the  thoughts  of  those  who  imagine  they  believe  in 
the  resurrection  of  the  body — an  idea  invented  for  the 
purpose  of  escaping  certain  difficulties  supposed  to  be 
otherwise  insurmountable,  but  chargeable,  we  apprehend, 


444  SERMON  xx. 

with  the  grave  objection  that  it  escapes  the  objections, 
not  by  maintaining  the  doctrine  of  a  resurrection,  but  by 
changing  it  for  another.  Against  all  such  evasions  of  the 
plain  letter  and  testimony  of  the  scriptures,  I  protest. 
When  Jesus  said  to  Martha,  "thy  brother  shall  rise 
again,"  did  he  mean  that  the  body  of  her  brother  Laza- 
rus, just  buried,  would  rise;  or  some  other  body,  no  mat- 
ter what  or  whence  ?  If  the  latter,  what  was  the  consola- 
tion in  her  bereavement?  And  when  she  said,  "I  know 
that  he  shall  rise  in  the  last  day,"  did  she  mean  only  that 
some  body  would  be  given  his  disembodied  spirit  in  that 
day ;  or  that  the  very  body  which  she  had  loved,  in  which 
he  had  been  accustomed  to  commune  with  her,  which  she 
regarded  as  an  integral  part  of  himself,  and  from  which 
she  was  now  separated  by  the  barriers  of  the  grave,  would 
be  restored  to  his  spirit;  that  Lazarus,  her  brother,  the 
same  soul  and  the  same  body  essentially,  would  live 
again?  What  speaks  our  Church  on  this  head?  We 
enter  the  grave  yard,  reading  for  the  consolation  of 
the  bereaved,  and  as  a  solemn  declaration  of  our  faith, 
those  words  of  holy  Job,  "I  know  that  my  Redeemer 
liveth,  and  that  he  shall  stand,  at  the  latter  day,  upon  the 
earth;  and  though  after  my  skin,  worms  destroy  this 
body,  yet  in  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God."*  Job  certainly 
expected  to  rise  from  the  corruption  of  the  grave  in  his 
oivn  flesh,  his  own  body,  that  very  one  which  worms  would 
devour,  and  not  another.  And  why  does  our  Church  re- 
quire these  words  of  the  Patriarch's  faith  to  be  read  at 
the  burial  of  her  people,  and  why,  as  we  lower  the  dead 
into  the  grave,  does  she  make  her  minister  say,  "earth 

*  Job  xix.  25,_27. 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  THE  DEAD  IN  CHRIST.  445 

to  earth,  ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust,  looking  for  the 
general  resurrection  in  the  last  day  and  the  life  of  the 
world  to  come,  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  at  whose 
second  coming  the  earth  and  the  sea  shall  give  up  their 
dead,  and  the  corruptible  bodies  of  those  that  sleep  in 
him  shall  be  changed  and  made  like  to  his  own  glorious 
body?"  It  is  all  for  the  consolation  of  surviving  Christian 
friends,  to  dry  their  tears,  and  fill  their  minds  with 
expectation  of  a  glorious  victory  over  death  and  the 
grave,  when  the  Lord  of  life,  by  the  trump  of  God,  will 
preach  deliverance  to  the  captives,  and  the  opening  of  that 
prison-door  to  them  that  are  bound.  But  where  is  the  con- 
solation, and  what  mockery  to  the  afflicted,  if,  after  all,  it 
is  not  meant  that  your  brother,  like  Job,  shall  stand  up 
in  his  own  flesh  and  see  God — that  the  dust  you  give  to 
dust- — that  the  corruptible  body  of  your  beloved  one,  who 
sleeps  in  Jesus,  shall  hear  that  trump  and  live ;  but  only 
that  his  immortal  spirit,  instead  of  being  disembodied  for- 
ever, shall  have  a  body,  some  body,  given  to  it  in  that 
day.* 

No,  brethren,  the  scripture  doctrine  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  body,  that  which  lights  the  gloom  of  the  grave, 

*  To  make  the  doctrine  of  the  identity  of  the  resurrection-body  more  expli- 
citly avowed  in  their  declaration  of  faith,  the  Article  in  the  Apostles'  Creed,  as 
adopted  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches,  is  "  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh." 
This  phrase  was  anciently  used  to  guard  against  the  idea  that  any  other  body 
than  that  which  dies  shall  rise.  In  the  Aquileian  Creed  it  is  still  more  point- 
ed— hujus  carnis — "the  resurrection  of  this  flesh."  The  Church  of  England,  in 
her  office  of  Baptism,  has  retained  the  article,  as  in  the  Latin  Church.  Where 
the  question  in  our  Prayer  Book  is,  "  Dost  thou  believe  all  the  articles  of  the 
Christian  faith  as  contained,"  <fcc.  The  English  book  puts  the  whole  creed  in 
the  form  of  a  question — "  Dost  thou  believe  in  God,  the  Father,"  <fcc.,  and  there 
we  have  " the  resurrection  of  the  flesh"  instead  of  "the  resurrection  of  the 
body."  On  this  subject  see  Pearson  on  the  Creed,  Jackson's  works,  vol.  iii. 
Tillotson's  Sermons,  No.  130. 


446  SERMON  xx. 

that  which  Job  professed,  that  which  the  martyrs  gloried 
in,  and  philosophers  of  the  heathen  scoffed  at,  that  which 
the  Christian  Church  in  all  ages  has  declared,  which  the 
afflicted  heart  so  affectionately  clings  to,  which  crowns 
the  redemption  that  is  in  Jesus  with  its  last  victory,  and 
which  alone  is  worth  contending  for,  is  plainly  that,  in  the  res- 
urrection, the  Lord  shall  give  to  every  man  his  own  body; 
that  the  body  out  of  which  his  soul  departed,  shall  be 
raised  up  again,  and  the  same  soul  that  departed  from  it 
shall  be  restored  and  united  to  it  again;  and  so  the  same 
man  that  died  shall  live  again,  in  the  same  body  in  which 
he  died."*  When  we  say,  the  same  lody  in  which  he  died, 
we  do  not  mean  the  same  in  all  qualities  and  powers,  but 
the  same  essentially ;  as  the  body  from  infancy  to  old  age, 
from  wasting  sickness  to  perfect  health,  is  the  same, 
though  there  has  taken  place  so  great  a  change  of  con- 
stituent elements,  and  of  condition,  and  of  powers. 

One  would  suppose  that  the  very  expression,  "  resur- 
rection of  the  dead"  would  suffice  to  settle  that  point. 
But  what  else  shall  we  make  of  the  words  of  Job — 
"though  worms  destroy  this  body,  yet  in  my  flesh  shall  I 
see  God;"  or  the  words  of  Daniel,  "Many  that  sleep  in 
the  dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake;"  or  of  Christ,  "the 
hour  cometh  when  all  that  are  in  their  graves  shall  come 
forth;"  or  of  St.  John,  "the  sea  shall  give  up  the  dead 
which  are  in  it;"  or  of  St.  Paul,  "It  (the  body)  is  sown 
in  dishonor,  it  is  raised  in  glory."|  What  else  can  be 
the  meaning  of  such  phrases  as  "the  redemption  of  our 
l)ody"\  or  such  a  promise  as  that  "he  that  raised  up 
Christ  from  the  dead,  shall  also  quicken  your  mortal 

*  Beveridge's  Sermons,  No.  72.        fJobxix.  26.    Dan.  xii.  2.    John  v.  28. 
Rev.  xx.  13.    1  Cor.  xv.  42,  43.  $  Rom.  viii.  23. 


THE   RESURRECTION   OF    THE  DEAD   IN   CHRIST.         447 

bodies?"''  What  else,  when  we  are  exhorted  to  "fear 
him  who  is  able  to  destroy  both  soul  and  lody  in  hell?" 
Is  it  not  meant  that  the  present  body,  as  well  as  the 
present  soul,  maybe  destroyed  in  hell?  Again,  "it  is 
better  to  enter  into  life  halt  or  maimed,  rather  than  hav- 
ing two  hands  or  two  feet  to  be  cast  into  everlasting 
fire."|  It  is  the  identical  body  that  was  maimed  in  this 
world  in  faithful  service  to  God,  that  shall  enter  the  life 
of  the  world  to  come ;  surely  not  some  other  body  in  its 
stead. 

Paul  thought  he  was  addressing  very  comforting  words 
to  the  Thessalonian  brethren,  when  he  said,  "I  would  not 
have  you  to  be  ignorant,  brethren,  concerning  them  which 
are  asleep  (your  beloved  ones  in  the  grave)  that  ye  sor- 
row not  as  others  which  have  no  hope.  For  if  we  believe 
that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again,  even  so  them  also  which 
sleep  in  Jesus,  will  God  bring  with  him."J  But  what 
consolation  was  it,  what  mockery  of  their  sorrow  was  it, 
if  they  whom  God  will  bring  with  Jesus  in  that  day  shall 
not  be  those  very  dead  which  they  mourned  after,  but 
some  other  bodies  which  they  never  knew,  and  that  never 
died?  Certainly,  the  several  instances  of  resurrection 
which  have  already  taken  place,  and  of  which  we  read  in 
the  scriptures,  especially  that  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour, 
are  intended  to  teach  us  by  example,  what  the  general 
rising  of  the  dead  will  be  ?  But  in  each  case,  was  it  not 
the  identical  body  buried,  which  lived  again? 

To  show  the  power  of  our  Lord's  resurrection,  and  how 
essentially  the  resurrection  of  his  people  must  follow'  in 
consequence  of  his,  we  read  that  "after  his  resurrection, 

*  Rom.  viii.  11,          fMatt.  x.  28;  &  xviii.  8.  $1  Thcss.  iv.  13, 14. 


448  SERMON  XX. 

many  bodies  of  saints  which  slept,  arose,  and  came  out  of 
the  graves  and  went  into  the  Holy  City,  and  appeared 
unto  many.""1'  The  passage  is  too  plain  to  be  evaded.  The 
very  bodies  which  had  died,  came  out  of  their  graves  and 
appeared.  How  long  they  had  been  in  their  graves,  what 
changes  had  taken  place,  whether  they  had  fallen  to  dust 
or  not,  we  are  not  told.  We  are  at  liberty  to  suppose 
what  we  please  on  such  points.  The  evidence  is,  that  no 
matter  how  changed  by  death,  or  how  changed  in  being 
quickened  again,  the  identical  bodies,  that  died  and  were 
buried,  arose.  That  resurrection  was  the  antepast  of  that 
glorious  day  when  the  whole  fruit  of  the  resurrection  of 
Christ  shall  appear ;  when  another  great  earthquake  shall 
be  felt,  and  all  graves  will  be  opened,  and  all  the  bodies 
of  them  that  sleep  in  Jesus,  shall  arise  and  go  into  the 
Holy  City — New  Jerusalem ;  and  shall  appear  in  "the 
white  raiment  which  is  the  righteousness  of  saints,"  and 
"death  shall  be  swallowed  up  in  victory." 

The  second  appearing  of  our  Lord  will  find  a  part  of 
his  Church  alive  on  the  earth — "the  quick ;"  but  it  will 
find  very  far  the  largest  portion  asleep,  as  to  their  bodies, 
in  the  grave — "the  dead"  Concerning  these  two  divisions 
of  the  Church,  it  is  written,  "  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise 
first,  then  they  which  are  alive  and  remain,  shall  be  caught 
up  together  with  them  in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord  in 
the  air,  and  so  shall  we  ever  be  with  the  Lord."f  Cer- 
tainly they  which  are  alive  in  that  day,  shall  be  taken  to 
meet,  and  to  be,  with  the  Lord,  in  the  very  bodies  in  which 
they  were  found.  They  shall  be  changed  indeed,  from 
corruptible  to  incorruptible,  yea  into  the  likeness  of  the 

*Matt.  xxvii.  52.  +1    Thess.  ir.  16,17. 


THE  EESURRECTION   OF   THE   DEAD   IN   CHRIST.         449 

glorious  body  of  Christ ;   yet  remaining  essentially  the 
same  bodies.     But  how  are  we  assured  of  this,  except  from 
language  exactly  equalled  in  strength  and  plainness  in 
relation  to  the  dead.     "  The  dead  shall  be  raised/'     The 
living  "shall  be  changed."     Which  of  these  expressions 
is  strongest  in  proof  of  the  identity  in  question  ?     Will 
the  very  small  remnant  of  the  people  of  God  which  shall 
be  alive  at  the  coming  of  Christ,  be  the  only  portion  of  his 
people  that  will  then  enjoy  a  perfect  redemption,  a  redemp- 
tion of  the  whole  man — a  redemption  of  the  body  from 
the  curse  of  sin  to  newness  of  life,  as  well  as  a  redemp- 
tion of  the  soul ;  and  shall  all  the  rest,  constituting  almost 
the  whole  of  "  the  general  assembly  and  Church  of  the 
first  born  whose  names  are  written  in  heaven,"  shall  they 
be  redeemed  only  in  part,  their  bodies  left  under  the  do- 
minion of  death;  the  works  of  the  devil  in  them  not  de- 
stroyed by  him  who  came  to  destroy  them  ?     Must  they, 
instead  of  having  restored  to  them  their  own  bodies,  and 
being  thus  blessed,  like  Enoch  and  Elijah  and  the  saints 
that  arose  after  the  crucifixion,  and  like  all  those  who, 
without   having   died,   shall   be   changed   at    the   voice 
of  the  Archangel ;  must    they  alone  be  consigned  to 
bodies,  entirely  alien  from  their  own  ?     Such  was  not  the 
expectation  of  Job  :  "  In  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God."    And 
if    such   were  the  doctrine   of  resurrection  which  Paul 
preached  at  Athens,  why  did  the  philosophers  mock  at  it? 
Was  there  any  difficulty  in  their  believing  that  the  same 
God  who  made  the  first  body  for  the  soul  to  inhabit,  could 
as  easily  make  for  it  a  second?     And  where  was  the 
meaning  of  the  scattering  of  the  ashes  of  the  martyrs  by 
their  persecutors,  to  the  winds  and  waters,  in  derision  of 
29 


450  SERMON  XX. 

the  resurrection  ?  Did  they  suppose  that  in  that  con- 
temptuous act  they  offered  any  impediment  to  the  resur- 
rection which  the  Christians  believed  and  taught,  except 
as  it  was  a  resurrection  of  the  very  body  thus  dispersed  ? 
And  why,  if  this  be  not  our  just  expectation,  is  the  prayer 
uttered  at  every  reception  of  the  sacrament  of  the  death 
of  Christ:  "  The  body  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which 
was  given  for  thee,  preserve  thy  lody  and  soul  unto  ever- 
lasting life?" 

Now,  such  being  so  evidently  the  doctrine  of  scripture, 
that  you  may  wonder  why  I  should  spend  so  much  time 
in  showing  it  to  be,  you  may  well  desire  me  to  state  what 
are  the  objections  to  it  that  have  caused  the  invention  of 
the  substitute  which  I  have  mentioned ;  objections  on 
account  of  which  heathen  sages  thought  it  incredible  that 
God  should  raise  the  dead,  and  many  like  them,  under 
greater  light,  have  not  been  wiser.  I  know  of  but  two 
objections  that  deserve  a  name.  One  is  founded  simply 
on  the  infinite  dispersion  which  the  bodies  of  the  dead 
undergo.  Take,  for  example,  the  bodies  of  Adam,  and 
Noah,  and  Abraham.  Where  are  they  ?  Resolved  into 
original  elements — all  their  particles  are  still  in  being,  but 
where  ?  Let  the  imagination  follow  them  through  air  and 
earth  and  sea.  The  objection  is  against  the  possibility  of 
thence  collecting  such  scattered  elements  and  composing 
again  the  bodies  they  once  belonged  to.  But  it  comes  only 
from  those  who  know  not  the  power  of  God.  He  can  do 
all  things  which  involve  not  a  contradiction.  He  that 
made  the  world  out  of  nothing,  can  he  not  re-construct 
the  body  when  its  materials  are  all  in  being?  Every 
stage  and  step  of  the  dispersion  has  been  only  by  his 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  THE  DEAD  IN  CHRIST.  451 

power  and  guidance.     He  made  that  dissolution — he  effec- 
ted that  minute  dispersion — he  gave  to  every  particle  its 
direction,  whithersoever  it  went,  and  assigLed  its  place, 
wherever  in  earth,  or  air,  or  sea,  it  may  be  now.     Known 
unto  God,  is  the  place  and  history  of  every  particle  of 
matter,  in  all  his  works,  from  each  grain  in  the  structure 
of  all  worlds,  to  every  atom  in  the  frame  of  the  animal- 
cule swimming  in  the  rain  drop.     And  can  he  not  call 
back  what  he  has  sent   abroad  ?     Can   he   not  gather 
together  what  he  has  scattered  ?     Is  there  any  skill  or 
power  required  for  this,  beyond  what  we  experience  con- 
tinually in  the  wonderful  power  and  skill  by  which  our 
living  bodies  are  nourished  and  renewed  from  day  to  day; 
that  mysterious  skill  which  extracts,  with  such  unfailing 
chemistry,  from  the  air  and  the  water,  from  vegetable  and 
animal  substance,  whatever  our  bodies  need  for  life,  and 
which  so  marvellously  assorts  and  combines  them,  in  weight 
and  measure,  and  sends  to  their  several  places  and  offices 
in  our  frames,  the  various  aliments,  so  that  every  minutest 
part  of  this  most  complex  structure  shall  daily  receive  its 
portion  in  due  season?     It  was  well  said  by  a  Jewish 
Rabbi:  "He  who  made  that  which  was  not,  to  be,  can 
certainly  make  that  which  once  was,  to  be  again."     The 
only  answer  needed  to  the  objection  stated,  is,  "The  Lord 
God  Omnipotent  reigneth" 

But  there  is  an  objection  of  much  more  apparent  force. 
It  is  not  based  so  much  on  the  wide  dispersion  of  the  ele- 
ments of  the  bodies  of  the  dead,  as  upon  the  innumerable 
combinations  into  which  they  have  entered.  It  is  urged 
that  those  elements  have  been  taken  into  the  structure  of 
vegetables,  and  that  animals  have  been  nourished  by  those 


452  SERMON  xx. 

vegetables — and  men  have  fed  on  those  animals,  and 
thus,  doubtless,  in  innumerable  instances,  the  particles  of 
one  human  body  have  entered  into  the  composition  of 
another ;  and  so  the  difficulty  is  presented,  How  can  ttvo 
bodies,  each  of  which  has  been  constituted  in  part  ly  the  same 
particles  of  matter,  be  both  raised  up  ?  This  is  really  the 
only  plausible  objection.  Its  force  is  in  the  contradiction 
which  it  seems  to  involve.  That  contradiction  depends 
on  the  assumption  that,  in  order  to  the  identity  of  the 
body  in  death  and  the  resurrection,  the  same  numerical 
particles  must  compose  it.  If  there  may  be  essential  iden- 
tity, without  numerical  sameness  in  all  the  parts,  the  con- 
tradiction is  avoided,  and  the  objection  fails.  But  all 
nature  testifies  to  that  point.  The  oak  that  has  stood  a 
hundred  years,  may  not  have  an  atom  of  the  substance 
which  composed  its  germ  in  the  acorn,  and  yet  nobody 
questions  the  identity  of  the  body  of  the  tree  and  the 
germ.  The  human  body,  at  sixty  years  of  age,  has 
undergone  repeatedly,  since  its  infancy,  an  entire  change 
of  constituent  elements,  so  that  it  contains  not  now  a 
single  particle  that  belonged  to  it  in  childhood.  But 
does  any  one  question  its  being  essentially  the  same 
body?  It  is  therefore  a  familiar  fact,  that  we  may  pre- 
serve our  corporeal  identity  without  preserving  a  numer- 
ical sameness  of  parts.  Nothing  is  a  man  more  sure  of, 
than  that  the  body  he  has  now,  is  the  same  he  had  in 
infancy.  Nothing,  however,  does  he  know  more  certainly, 
than  that  its  constituent  atoms  have  meanwhile  been 
entirely  changed.  What,  then,  if  the  difference  should  be 
as  great  between  the  body  buried,  and  that  which  shall 
be  raised,  (though  there  is  no  necessity  of  supposing 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  THE  DEAD  IN  CHRIST.  453 

it,)  might  they  not  be  as  truly  the  same  body  as  my  pres- 
ent tabernacle  is  the  same  that  my  soul  inhabited  when 
I  was  a  child  ?  And  thus  liave  we  not  all  we  need  for  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead,  in  the  full,  literal  sense  of  the 
scriptures  ? 

St.  Paul  seems  to  have  had  in  view  precisely  this 
method  of  answering,  when  he  supposed  some  caviller  to 
ask  him,  "How  are  the  dead  raised  up,  and  with  what 
body  do  they  come  ?"  He  answered,  by  referring  to  the 
growth  of  the  wheat-stalk  from  the  seed,  as  we  have  answer- 
ed by  the  growth  of  the  oak  from  the  acorn,  or  the  man 
from  the  infant.  "That  which  thou  sowest  (said  he)  is 
not  quickened,  except  it  die ;  and  that  which  thou  sow- 
est, thou  sowest  not  that  body  which  shall  be,  but  bare 
grain;  it  may  chance  of  wheat,  or  of  some  other  grain; 
but  God  giveth  it  a  body  as  it  hath  pleased  him,  and 
to  every  seed  his  own  body."* 

The  reasoning  is ;  The  wheat  in  the  stalk  is  essentially 
the  wheat  that  was  first  in  the  seed.  The  seed  will  not 
spring  forth  into  wheat  except  it  die.  The  human  body, 
in  order  to  its  resurrection,  must  go  into  the  corruption 
of  the  grave.  And  when  the  seed  is  grown  into  the  beau- 
ty of  the  ripening  plant,  how  great  is  the  change ;  where 
are  the  particles  it  possessed  when  it  lay  a  mere  tirrain  in 
the  ground?  God,  in  thus  arraying  it,  as  Solomon  in  all 
his  glory  was  not  arrayed,  giveth  it  a  body  as  it  pleaseth 
him.  But,  in  all  that  change,  from  the  corrupting  grain 
to  the  beautiful  stalk  and  blade  of  the  wheat,  he  so  pre- 
serves the  corporeal  identity,  that  he  gives  "to  every  seed 
its  own  body"  —  the  wheat  and  the  germ  are  one — so  is 

*  1  Cor.  xv.  36—38. 


454  SERMON  XX. 

the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  What  it  is  that  is  essential 
to  such  identity,  we  know  not.  It  is  enough  here  to  know 
that  it  is  not  numerical' sameness  of  particles.  The  rest  we 
are  well  satisfied  to  leave  with  him  who  is  "  the  God  of 
the  dead,  as  well  as  the  living."* 

To  the  question,  "hoiv  are  the  dead  raised  up?"  we 
have  no  further  answer.  The  matter  of  fact  is  plainly 
revealed.  But  liow,  he  whose  "footsteps  are  not  known" 
will  accomplish  such  a  wondrous  work,  thus  swallowing  up 
death  in  such  universal  and  stupendous  victory,  "  in  a 
moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  at  the  last  trump," 
his  word  speaks  not,  man  knows  not.  Tell  me  how  he 
created  the  world,  and  I  will  tell  you  how  he  will  raise 
the  dead.  Tell  me  how,  by  his  word,  all  things  were 
made,  and  I  will  tell  how,  at  his  last  trump,  "the  earth 
and  the  sea  shall  give  up  their  dead."  Our  confidence  is 
in  the  promise  and  power  of  God.  "I  believe  in  God,  the 
Father  Almighty,  Maker  of  Heaven  and  Earth ;"  and, 
therefore,  because  that  Almighty  One  hath  decreed  it,  "I 
believe  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body." 

And,  now  having  spoken  of  the  essential  sameness  of 
the  body  in  the  resurrection,  we  must  speak  of  the  changes 
it  will  neverthless  undergo. 

But  here  we  encounter  a  passage  which,  for  some  minds, 

*  "  It  is  impossible  to  say,  (observes  an  excellent  writer,)  that  there  remains 
not,  somewhere,  amidst  the  elements  to  which  it  (the  body)  is  reduced,  a  germ 
however  imperceptible,  from  which  the  immortal  body  may  yet  develop  itself 
in  an  instant.  Too  little  is  known  of  that  wondrous  principle,  whatever  it  be, 
which  remains  through  life,  and  gives  to  the  body  the  same  peculiar,  individual 
form,  aspect  and  identity,  distinguishing  it  from  all  others,  though  every  per- 
ceptible particle  be  repeatedly  changed  and  renewed ."  — "  The  Last  Enemy," 
by  George  Burgess,  D.D.,  Bp.  of  the  Diocese  of  Maine — a  book  of  much  thought 
and  spiritual  wealth,  which  cannot  be  read  by  a  serious  mind  without  benefit. 
It  should  be  much  better  known  than  it  is. 


THE   RESURRECTION   OF   THE  DEAD   IN   CHRIST.         455 

needs  explanation.  St.  Paul,  with  reference  to  this  very 
subject,  says  :  "  Flesh  and  Mood  cannot  inherit  the  king- 
dom of  God,  neither  doth  corruption  inherit  incorruption"* 
At  first  view,  the  former  clause  of  this  verse  seems  contra- 
dictory to  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  in 
any  literal  sense.  But  to  that  interpretation,  it  is  justly 
answered,  that  our  Saviour's  body,  after  he  had  risen  from 
the  dead,  was  flesh,  and  surely  that  inherits  the  kingdom 
of  God.  Thomas'  unbelief  was  cured  by  touching  it ;  and 
when  uneasy  thoughts  arose  in  the  other  disciples'  minds, 
lest  after  all  it  was  only  a  spirit  that  appeared  to  them, 
Jesus  said,  "  Why  do  thoughts  arise  in  your  hearts  ?  Be- 
hold my  hands  and  my  feet,  that  it  is  I,  myself ;  handle 
me,  and  see ;  for  a  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones  as  ye  see 
me  have."|  The  meaning  of  the  clause  objected,  appears 
from  that  which  follows  it  by  way  of  explication; — "Neither 
doth  corruption  inherit  incorruption."  The  phrase,  "flesh 
and  blood"  is  a  synonyme  for  our  bodies  as  the?/  now  are — 
corruptible,  mortal,  full  of  infirmities,  having  wants  and 
appetites  belonging  to  their  present  earthly  state.  As 
thus  situated,  they  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God; 
because  they  are  not  adapted  to  its  life,  and  employment, 
and  spirituality.  They  must  be  changed ;  not  so  that  they 
shall  cease  to  be  flesh,  but  cease  to  be  flesh  as  it  now  is. 
"  All  flesh,  (saith  the  Apostle,)  is  not  the  same  flesh." 
"  There  are  celestial  bodies,  and  bodies  terrestrial."  "As 
is  the  earthy,  such  are  they  also  that  are  earthy ;  and  as 
is  the  heavenly,  such  are  they  also  that  are  heavenly." 
And,  "as  we  have  borne  the  image  of  the  earthy,  (the  first 
Adam,)  we  shall  also  bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly," 

*  1  Cor.  XT.  50.  f  John  xx.  27.     Luke  xxiv.  37—39. 


456  SERMON   XX. 

"  the  Lord  from  heaven.'^  The  body  as  well  as  the  soul 
must  be  made  "meet  for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in 
light."  The  soul  is  made  so,  by  being  born  again  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  finally  restored,  by  a  perfect  holiness, 
to  the  perfect  mind  of  Christ,  the  image  and  likeness  of 
God.  The  body  also  must  be  born  again,  and  by  the 
same  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  "  dead,  because  of  sin."  "  But, 
if  the  Spirit  of  him  that  raised  up  Jesus  from  the  dead, 
dwell  in  you,  he  that  raised  up  Christ  from  the  dead, 
shall  also  quicken  your  mortal  bodies,  by  his  Spirit  that 
dwelleth  in  you."|  Hence,  the  resurrection  of  the  dead 
in  Christ  is  called  "the  regeneration."^  "We  shall  not  all 
sleep,  but  ive  shall  all  le  changed."  Vast  and  wonderful, 
indeed,  must  be  the  change  that  will  fit  and  prepare  this 
frail  and  mortal  body,  especially  after  the  corruption  of  the 
grave,  for  the  habitation  of  God,  the  vision  of  his  glory, 
the  communion  of  his  kingdom,  the  society  of  angels,  the 
employments  of  heaven,  the  life  eternal.  Great,  indeed, 
must  be  the  change  to  prepare  it  to  be  a  suitable,  conge- 
nial companion,  and  instrument  of  the  soul,  in  the  perfect 
holiness  and  boundless  activity  and  vigor  of  its  heavenly 
state.  The  disembodied  spirit,  accustomed  to  the  com- 
munion of  saints  made  perfect,  and  to  the  ineffable  glory 
of  the  presence  of  God,  when  it  comes  to  re-enter  its 
tabernacle,  must  find  therein,  not  only  every  vestige  of 
the  fall ;  every  remnant  of  the  dominion  and  curse  of  sin, 
every  mark  of  death,  every  infirmity  of  an  earthly  state, 
obliterated ;  but  a  newness  of  life,  a  purity,  an  energy, 
and  activity,  adapting  it  to  participate  with,  instead 
of  encumbering,  its  own  inconceivably  vigorous,  active, 

*  1  Cor.  xv.  39—47,  49.        f  Rom.  viii.  10,  11 .         +  Matt.  xix.  28. 


THE   RESURRECTION   OF   THE  DEAD   IN   CHRIST.          457 

and  exalted  powers.  Without  such  change,  the  risen  body 
would  be  no  more  capable  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  than  a 
worm,  without  the  transformation  undergone  in  the  chrys- 
alis, would  be  capable  of  the  new  element,  and  new  life, 
and  food,  and  pleasures,  and  occupations,  of  the  butter- 
fly ;  or,  than  the  seed  in  the  ground,  unchanged,  unquick- 
ened,  can  exhibit  the  properties,  and  perform  the  func- 
tions, and  answer  the  ends,  of  the  growing  and  ripening 
wheat.  A  change  is  to  be  made  of  worlds,  from  earth  to 
heaven;  and  a  change  must  be  made  of  the  body,  from 
earthy  to  heavenly;  from  corruption  to  incorruption;  from 
mortal  to  immortality.  That  change  must  be  made ;  be- 
cause the  body,  as  much  as  the  soul,  has  a  title,  in  Christ, 
to  an  inheritance  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Christ  came 
to  redeem  us;  not  our  souls  only,  but  ourselves,  just  as  we 
are,  body  and  soul,  "from  all  iniquity,"  from  all  its  con- 
demnation, dominion  and  curse ;  to  destroy  the  work  of 
the  devil  entirely,  in  the  flesh  and  in  the  spirit.  One,  as 
much  as  the  other,  was  bought  with  the  price  of  his  blood, 
and  is  his.  Whatever  is  his,  he  will  have ;  and  neither  death 
nor  life  shall  finally  separate  it  from  him.  To  leave  the 
bodies  of  his  people  under  the  power  of  death,  would  be 
to  leave  his  work  of  redemption  unfinished;  his  own  mys- 
tical body  incomplete.  Man  would  not  be  saved — for 
man  is  corporeal,  as  well  as  spiritual.  Hence,  "  this  cor- 
ruptible must  put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal,  immor- 
tality."* Of  the  greatness  and  glory  of  the  change,  we 
can  form  but  the  least  and  most  inadequate  conception  ; 
just  as  we  can  conceive  so  little  of  that  whole  transforma- 
tion by  which  the  soul  is  finally  adapted,  out  of  its  present 

*  1  Cor.  xv.  53. 


458  SERMON   XX. 

fallen  state,  to  the  holiness  and  glory  of  its  heavenly  por- 
tion. All  is  done  by  St.  Paul  that  language  can  do,  to  give 
us  the  idea.  But  all  language  fails.  In  this  life  we  must 
needs  see  such  things  through  a  glass,  very  darkly.  We 
necessarily  think  as  children,  understand  as  children, 
just  the  spelling-book,  the  merest  elements.  The  resur- 
rection day  alone  can  teach  us  any  more.  When  we  rise, 
we  shall  know.  But  let  us  take  some  of  the  words  of  St. 
Paul,  and  think  of  them.  "  It  is  soivn  in  corruption,  it 
is  raised  in  incorruption  ;"  raised  as  pare  and  deathless  as 
the  soul  that  comes  to  inhabit  it  again.  "It  is  sown  in 
dishonor,  it  is  raised  in  glory"  Now  a  "  vile  body,"  and 
deeply  dishonored  by  the  humiliating  process  of  death, 
and  burial,  and  dissolution,  so  that  it  is  put  out  of  the  sight 
of  the  living,  as  a  spectacle  not  to  be  looked  on;  it  shall  be 
changed  into  a  habitation  as  far  beyond  its  present  state, 
as  the  heavenly  mansions  exceed  in  glory  the  grave  from 
which  it  will  be  raised.  "  Sown  in  weakness,  it  shall  le 
raised  in  poiver ;"  power  to  endure  such  a  vision  of  God, 
and  to  sustain  such  an  "exceeeding  and  eternal  weight  of 
glory;"  power  to  endure  forever,  and  to  mount  with  the 
soul  to  all  the  heights,  and  go  with  it,  in  all  its  vast  excur- 
sions, and  endless  occupations  and  enjoyments.  "It  is 
sown  a  natural  body,  it  is  raised  a  spiritual  lody"  Natu- 
ral IWIQ  means  animal;  spiritual  is  here  used  in  opposi- 
tion, not  to  corporeal,  but  animal;  a  body  spiritualized, 
deprived  of  its  animal  properties,  and  weaknesses,  and 
wants ;  a  body  made  as  perfectly  conformed  to  the  nature 
and  uses  of  the  spirit  dwelling  therein,  as  a  material  body 
can  be;  so  that  instead  of  one  encumbering  the  other,  or 
feeling  itself  impeded  by  the  other,  there  shall  be  such 


THE   RESURRECTION   OF   THE   DEAD    IN   CHRIST.         459 

perfect  harmony  that  both  shall  be  one  in  every  thing; 
not  the  body  now,  and  now  the  spirit,  but  the  whole 
redeemed  man  so  perfect,  that  there  shall  be  a  complete 
oneness  of  participation  in  all  works,  all  occupations,  all 
blessedness. 

But  the  highest  reach  of  language,  in  describing  the 
change  in  the  resurrection,  is  that  of  St.  Paul,  to  the 
Philippians.  He  tells  us  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
at  his  second  coming,  "shall  change  our  vile  body,  that  it 
may  be  fashioned  like  unto  his  oivn  glorious  body"  Fallen 
in  Adam,  we  bear  his  image  in  body  and  soul ;  redeemed 
in  Christ,  we  must  bear  his  image,  also,  in  body  and  soul. 
Members  of  Christ,  we  must  be  as  he  is.  Ever  to  be  with 
the  Lord,  in  the  body ;  he  will  qualify  our  bodies  for  that 
blessedness,  by  making  them  like  his  own  glorious  body. 
The  harvest  will  be  as  the  first  fruits.  We  shall  not  only 
see  his  glory,  but  partake  therein.  Our  Lord  will  be  the 
pattern,  and  architect,  of  our  resurrection.  In  the  first 
creation,  God  made  man  after  his  own  image  and  likeness. 
The  completion  of  the  new  creation,  by  Jesus  Christ,  will 
be  the  finishing  of  his  own  likeness  in  the  risen  bodies  of 
his  people.  What  is  the  glory  of  the  glorious  body  of 
Christ,  it  hath  not  entered  into  the  mind  of  man  to  con- 
ceive. The  light  "above  the  brightness  of  the  sun,"  in 
which  he  appeared  at  the  transfiguration,  and  the  sight  of 
which  the  three  disciples  could  not  endure,  was  intended 
to  give  some  idea  of  that  glory.  But  we  wait  the  bea- 
tific vision.  Meanwhile,  we  are  satisfied  with  the  assurance 
of  St.  John:  "It  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be; 
but  this  we  know,  that  when  he  shall  appear,  we  shall  be 

*Phil.iii.20,21. 


460  SERMON  XX. 

like  him,  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is." :  One  thing, 
however,  we  know,  that  the  full  and  glorious  triumph  of 
redeeming  grace  and  power,  the  fullness  of  the  victory 
over  sin  and  death,  will  not  be  consummated  till  the  res- 
urrection day.  It  cannot  be,  while  the  body  of  a  single 
saint  is  under  the  dominion  of  death.  It  cannot  be,  until 
the  earth  and  the  sea  shall  be  made  to  give  up  their  dead. 
It  cannot  be,  till  all  they  that  sleep  in  Jesus  are  brought 
with  him,  and  changed  into  his  own  likeness.  Your 
brother,  whose  soul  is  now  with  the  Lord,  must  rise  in  the 
body  from  the  grave,  or  the  Saviour's  work  will  not  be 
finished.  But,  writes  the  Apostle,  "WHEN  this  corruptible 
shall  have  put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal  immortal- 
ity, THEN  shall  be  brought  to  pass  the  saying  that  is  writ- 
ten, 'Death  is  swalloived  up  in  victory?  '  Then  shall  the 
triumphal  song  of  the  whole  redeemed  Church  be  heard, 
"0,  death,  where  is  thy  sting!  0,  grave,  where  is  thy 
victory !  Thanks  be  to  God,  which  giveth  us  the  victory 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."! 

If,  in  this  discourse,  we  have  only  spoken  of  the  resur- 
rection of  the  righteous,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  all 
the  graves  are  to  give  up  their  dead — "  some  to  everlast- 
ing life,  some  to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt.  "J  We 
are  to  be  "judged  according  to  the  deeds  done  in  the  body  5" 
and  in  the  body  must  all  be,  in  order  to  be  so  judged. 

But  for  this  most  painful  part  of  our  subject,  we  have 
not  time — except  to  say,  that  while  the  same  identity 
shall  be  preserved,  there  will  be  a  change  in  the  resurrection 
of  the  unrighteous,  corresponding  to  that  of  the  righteous; 
mortal  changed  to  immortality,  corruptible  that  of  incor- 

*1  John  iii.  2.  f  1  Cor.  xv.  54-57.  \  Dan.  xii.  2. 


THE  RESURRECTION   OP  THE  DEAD   IN   CHRIST.         461 

ruption,  weakness  raised  in  power ;  in  order  that  those  who 
are  to  "go  away  into  everlasting  punishment,"  may  be  fitted, 
in  the  body,  for  its  endurance,  as  well  as  that  those  who  are 
to  enter  into  life  eternal,  may  be  fitted  for  its  enjoyment. 
And  now  we  have  seen  probably  as  much  as  we  can 
know  here,  of  what  the  rising  of  the  dead  means,  espe- 
cially of  those  who  sleep  in  Jesus.     And  what  precious 
consolation  does  the  gospel   thus  bring  to  the   aching 
hearts   of  bereaved  believers !     "  Thy  brother  shall  rise 
again."     Yes,  answers  Martha,  sorrowing  over  some  re- 
cently tenanted  grave,  "but  not  till  the  last  day.     Oh, 
that  he  could  now  come  to  life  again ! " '  No,  the  wise 
Christian  heart  replies,  it  is  a  great  part  the  consolation 
that  he  will  not  rise  now,  while  death  still  reigns,  and  sorrow, 
and  sighing  have  not  fled  away ;  that  he  will  not  rise  till 
that  day,  when  all  things  shall  be  made  new,  "  the  tirne^ 
of  the  restitution  of  all  things,"  when  he  can  come  forth 
in  a  body  that  will  never  die  again ;  into  a  world  where 
there  shall  be  no  more  sin,  or  pain,  or  woe ;  in  company 
with  the  whole  harvest  of  the  dead  in  Christ,  his  holy 
brotherhood,  and  then  go  with  that  whole  blessed  company 
to  be  "  ever  with  the  Lord."     This  is  our  "  garment  of 
praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness."    "  Precious  in  the  sight 
of  the  Lord,  is  the  death,"  and  even  the  dust,  "  of  his 
saints."     Not  a  Christian's  grave  is  there,  in  the  silent 
city  of  the  dead,  but  is  well  known  to  him — well  watched 
and  kept  under  his  care — though  its  memorial,  for  human 
eye,  has  centuries  ago  been  lost.    As  we  walk  along  those 
solemn  streets,  a  voice  seems  to  say,  "these  all  shall  rise 
again."     Then  we  think  of  the  dead  of  all  generations, 
since  the  world  began;  the  graves  in  land  and  sea;  the 


462  SERMON   XX. 

whole  earth  a  cemetery  of  unknown  millions !  Not  a  par- 
ticle of  their  dust  has  perished,  however  widely  it  has 
wandered.  All  are  waiting  "the  day  of  redemption." 
What  a  multitude  that  cannot  be  numbered,  of  God's 
beloved  people,  are  there, — the  tribes  of  his  true  Israel, 
dispersed  through  all  lands,  enduring  the  captivity  of 
death,  but  "prisoners  of  hope"  listening  for  "the  voice  of 
the  Archangel  and  the  trump  of  God."  Then  shall  the 
earth  cast  forth  her  dead,  and  all  shall  come  forth,  and 
rejoin  the  souls  from  which  they  have  been  so  long 
divorced ;  and  then  shall  be  joy  among  the  angels  of  God, 
to  welcome  home  to  Zion  the  children  of  that  long,  and 
dark,  captivity.  They  "return  and  come  to  Zion  with 
songs  and  everlasting  joy  upon  their  heads."  They  are 
clothed  in  the  white  raiment  of  their  Redeemer's  righte- 
ousness. The  shout  of  victory,  and  praise,  and  gladness, 
is  heard  from  every  heart.  Rank  upon  rank,  a  boundless 
congregation,  they  press  towards  "the  throne  of  God  and 
the  Lamb,"  to  "shew  forth  the  praises  of  him  who  called 
them  out  of  darkness  into  his  marvellous  light."  It  is  the 
"  royal  priesthood,  the  holy  nation,"  gathered  out  of  all 
nations,  and  people,  and  kindred,  and  tongues.  The  Lord 
of  Glory,  having  finished  his  work,  begins  that  endless 
Sabbath.  His  Church,  "without  spot  or  wrinkle,"  walking 
with  him,  "  in  white,"  keeps  holy  that  long  hoped-for  day 
of  eternal  rest.  They  are  "joint-heirs  with  Christ"; 
He,  "glorified  in  them;"  they,  glorified  in  him.  His  joy 
is  in  beholding  in  them  "the  travail  of  his  soul;"  their  joy 
is  in  beholding  in  him  "the  author  and  finisher  of  their 
faith,"  and  their  portion  forever.  Oh,  what  believer  would 
wake  the  sleep  of  a  brother  in  Christ — sleeping  in  death 


THE   RESURRECTION   OF  THE  DEAD   IN   CHRIST.          463 

till  the  last  trump  of  that  day  of  days  shall  call  him ; 
till  he  can  rise  in  that  great  communion  and  fellow- 
ship, and  begin  that  Sabbath!  No,  beloved  one,  we  will 
wait  in  hope.  Sleep  on,  in  thy  silent,  lowly  bed,  till  this 
stormy  sea  is  passed,  and  the  war  of  sin  and  hell  is  ended, 
and  the  last  vial  of  wrath  is  poured  upon  the  earth.  Come 
not  again  to  us,  till  we  are  ready  to  mount  with  thee  to 
the  heavenly  gates.  The  time  is  short.  The  day  will 
soon  break.  Farewell,  precious  one,  till  then  ! 

But  St.  Paul  has  an  exhortation  for  the  living,  founded 
on  the  assurance  of  that  day :  "  Therefore,  my  beloved 
brethren,  be  ye  steadfast,  unmovable,  always  abounding 
in  the  work  of  the  Lord ;  forasmuch  as  ye  know  that 
your  labor  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord."  With  such  perfect 
redemption  in  view,  such  a  day  in  prospect — an  inheri- 
tance of  life  eternal,  for  body  and  soul,  in  the  glory 
of  God — shall  anything  move  you  from  the  steadfast,  un- 
shaken, setting  of  your  hearts  and  the  earnest  devo- 
tion of  your  lives  to  the  obedience  of  Christ  ?  Shall 
any  temptations  seduce,  any  trials  discourage,  any  wrath 
of  man  affright  you,  from  the  patient  continuance  in  well 
doing,  knowing,  as  you  do,  that  not  the  least  moment  of  your 
labor,  or  trial,  or  patience,  or  suffering,  shall  be  in  vain  in 
the  Lord;  that  all  will  ripen  unto,  and  that  all  will  bring 
forth  fruit  abundantly  in,  that  great  harvest.  The  Lord 
strengthen  us  thus  to  abide,  seeking  our  rest  not  here,  on 
these  troubled  waves,  this  open  sea,  where  all  winds 
blow  and  rage,  but  in  that  haven  where  only  the  anchor  of 
the  soul  is  cast,  and  where  remaineth  the  rest  of  the  people 
of  God.  Amen. 

*  1  Cor.  xv.  58. 


SERMON  XII. 

TEE  FINAL   SATISFACTION   OF   THE  BELIEVER   IN   JESUS. 


Ps.  xvii.  15. 

"As  for  me,  I  will   behold  thy  face    in   righteousness;  I  shall  be  satisfied 
when  I  awake,  with  thy  likeness." 

THE  Psalmist  was  in  affliction — oppressed  by  the  wicked, 
who  compassed  him  in  his  steps  (v.  11)  and  were  in  world- 
ly prosperity.  He  described  their  prosperity,  however,  as 
that  which  he  did  not  envy.  It  was  of  very  brief  dura- 
tion. "They  have  their  portion  in  this  life"  What  a 
poor  portion  is  that  which  only  lasts  till  we  get  to  the 
grave!  Can  any  thing  so  short-lived,  so  uncertain,  so 
unsatisfactory,  deserve  the  name  of  riches?  When  the 
Psalmist  looked  at  the  portion  of  the  ungodly,  in  that 
light,  and  then  turned  his  eyes  upon  the  portion  of  the 
righteous,  in  the  life  to  come,  that  incorruptible  inherit- 
ance, that  unfading  joy,  the  well  grounded  hope  of  which 
is  wealth  indeed ;  he  felt  how  little  a  child  of  God  could 
ever  have  reason  to  feel  as  if  his  lot  in  this  life  were  hard. 
"As  for  me,  (said  he,)  I  shall  behold  thy  face  in  righteous- 
ness; I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake,  with  thy  likeness." 
We  shall  confine  our  attention,  in  this  discourse,  chiefly 
to  the  latter  clause  of  the  it — "I shall  be  satisfied  when  I 


THE  FINAL  SATISFACTION  OF  THE  BELIEVER  IN  JESUS.     465 

aivake,  ivith  thy  likeness"  You  see  the  connection  here, 
between  our  being  in  the  likeness  of  God,  and  being  satis- 
fied. The  connection  is  essential.  There  cannot  be,  in 
this  life,  or  in  the  life  to  come,  a  satisfied  heart,  a  man 
possessed  of  real  happiness,  except  as  he  is  in  the  likeness 
of  God.  To  illustrate  that  connection,  is  the  chief  object 
of  the  present  discourse. 

"  / shall  be  satisfied"  A  man  perfectly  satisfied!  Can 
there  be  such  a  miracle  ?  Every  desire  of  his  heart  con- 
tent, every  capacity  of  his  being  filled !  We  can  form  no 
higher  idea  of  a  man  entirely  happy.  What  a  marvel 
would  such  a  fellow  creature  be  to  the  rest  of  the  human 
family;  such  a  perfect  rest  of  heart,  on  this  troubled  sea 
of  heaving,  tumultuous,  conflicting,  desires  !  Was  there 
ever  a  satisfied  man  on  the  earth?  Yes,  because  there 
was  a  time  on  the  earth  when  there  was  no  sin.  I  sup- 
pose it  wi'.l  be  conceded  that  our  first  father,  as  long  as 
he  continued  as  God  created  him,  before  the  malice  of 
Satan  had  succeeded  in  persuading  him  to  desire  what 
was  forbidden,  knew  no  want,  had  no  care,  was  conscious 
of  no  imperfection  in  his  portion,  had  no  void  in  his  heart. 
Every  power  of  his  mind  found  adequate  exercise ;  every 
affection  of  his  heart  found  commensurate  objects,  in 
which  there  could  be  no  disappointment.  This  was  es- 
sential to  the  perfectness  of  his  original  state. 

But  the  question  arises,  whence  came  his  satisfaction  ? 
On  what  did  it  depend  ?  Ah,  says  the  wounded  spirit, 
afflicted  by  some  grievous  bereavement,  or  chafed  with 
the  thousand  disappointments  of  the  world,  he  was  in  the 
garden  of  Paradise.  All  around  him  was  perfectness. 
There  was  no  uncertainty  hi  his  blessings,  so  long  as  he 
30 


466  SERMON  XXI. 

obeyed  God.  Disappointed  expectations  were  not  his  lot. 
An  aching  void,  in  the  midst  of  abundance,  was  not  his 
burden.  There  was  no  death  to  blight  his  every  hope  and 
turn  every  joy  to  mourning !  These,  we  grant,  were 
precious  appurtenances  of  happiness.  They  went  very 
far  to  fill  up  his  cup.  But  they  fell  unspeakably  short 
of  the  real,  essential,  constitution  of  his  blessedness. 
Man,  invested  with  dominion  over  all  the  creatures  around 
him,  and  possessed  of  an  immortal  mind,  by  which  he  is 
made  so  superior  to  them  all,  must  find  a  source  of  happi- 
ness, not  in  what  is  beneath,  but  in  what  is  above  him; 
in  a  nature  with  which  his  highest  powers  may  commune, 
and  from  the  fullness  of  which  they  may  be  ever  receiving. 
That  superior  nature  is  the  Creator.  The  perfect  man 
lived  in  direct,  unreserved,  continual  communion  with  God. 
He  saw  God's  face  in  righteousness.  The  river  was  in  free 
communication  with  the  tides  of  the  ocean,  and  hence  its 
own  fullness. 

Now  the  question  occurs,  how  took  place  that  free  com- 
munion of  man  with  God  ?  What  qualified  him  for  it  ? 
On  what  basis  was  it  erected?  There  was  nothing  like  it 
between  the  Creator  and  any  other  individual  of  his  earth- 
ly creation.  The  answer  is  found  in  that  which  distin- 
guished the  creation  of  man  from  that  of  every  other 
earthly  being.  God  said  "  Let  us  make  man  in  our  oivn 
image,  after  our  likeness"  Likeness  to  God,  in  intelli- 
gence and  holiness,  was  the  single,  the  essential  basis  of 
Adam's  communion  with  him,  and  thus  of  his  perfect  fe- 
licity. 

There  can  be  no  communion  between  any  beings  but 
on  the  basis  of  likeness.  Brutes  and  men  can  have  no 


THE  FINAL  SATISFACTION  OF  THE  BELIEVER  IN  JESUS.      467 

communion,  because  they  have  neither  intellectual  nor 
moral  likeness.  Adam,  though  surrounded  with  the  love- 
liness of  Eden,  and  with  all  the  obedient  creatures  over 
whom  he  was  vested  with  dominion,  had  no  earthly  being 
with  whom  his  mind  and  heart  could  communicate,  until  a 
companion  had  been  created  in  his  own  image  and  likeness ; 
and  the  Most  High  God  had  none,  among  all  his  perfect 
works  of  animate  nature,  that  could  know  and  love  him, 
and  be  enriched  in  communion  with  his  infinite  wis- 
dom and  holiness,  until  he  had  made  man  in  his  own  im- 
age, a  being  of  intelligence  and  holiness. 

I  need  not  pause  to  show  how  essential  to  that  likeness 
in  man,  to  God,  was  holiness.  To  have  been  only  a  ra- 
tional being,  however  exalted  in  intellectual  powers,  would 
have  been  no  adequate  qualification  for  communion  with 
God.  Such  are  the  fallen  angels,  and  none  so  far  from, 
so  incapable  of,  such  communion.  "Be  ye  holy,  for  1  the 
Lord  your  God  am  holy"*  is  an  exhortation  founded  on 
an  intrinsic  necessity,  that  if  we  would  see  God,  face  to 
face,  in  the  happiness  of  his  kingdom  hereafter,  or  if  we 
would  now  draw  near  to  him  in  communion  of  soul  with  him. 
as  the  Father  of  our  spirits,  we  must  be,  as  he  is,  holy. 
Hence  the  real  ground  of  the  communion  between  the  man 
unfallen,  and  his  Maker,  and  consequently  of  all  his  felic- 
ity. He  was  like  God,  not  only  in  being  holy ;  but  in  be- 
ing perfectly  holy.  He  did  not,  in  the  language  of  the 
text,  awake  up,  as  if  out  of  another  state,  in  the  likeness 
of  God  ;  but  from  the  dust  out  of  which  he  was  made,  he 
arose,  at  the  first,  in  that  likeness,  perfectly  holy ;  and  h 
was  satisfied. 

*Lev.  xix.  2,  and  1  Pet.  i.  15,  16. 


468  SERMON   XXI. 

Bat  what  a  painful  contrast  to  this,  has  the  world  pre- 
sented, ever  since  that  first  man,  in  his  first  estate  !  Never 
satisfied,  is  the  brief  history.  Immortal  minds,  driving  to 
and  fro  over  the  earth,  in  search  of  something,  they  know 
not  what,  to  appease  desires  they  do  not  comprehend ; 
minds  never  at  rest,  conscious  of  having  been  created  for 
something  not  attained,  and  of  possessing  capacities  of 
enjoyment  which  are  never  filled,  wandering  further  and 
farther,  and  becoming  more  needy  and  less  satisfied  as 
they  wander.  Such  is  the  human  race.  The  word  most 
used  in  the  scriptures  to  express  that  dissatisfied,  craving 
state  of  mind,  is  thirst — the  thirst  of  a  wanderer  who  has 
lost  his  way  in  a  dry  and  barren  land,  where  no  water  is — 
and  nothing  can  be  more  appropriate.  A  thirsty  man  can 
be  satisfied  with  nothing  but  water.  Other  things  may 
promise,  but  cannot  fulfill ;  may  create  hope,  but  only  to 
disappoint;  may  for  the  time  appease,  only  to  make 
thirst,  by  and  by,  the  more  intolerable.  A  heart  athirst, 
as  it  must  be  by  its  own  nature,  must  have  the  "living 
water"  those  supplies  which  no  finite  source  can  furnish, 
even  the  fullness  of  God ;  or  it  only  becomes  more  and  more 
athirst  and  craving.  And  that  thirst,  unsatisfied  here, 
must  go  on  forever,  in  the  world  hereafter.  Beyond  the 
grave,  will  it  shew  its  real  power.  Here,  in  the  present 
life,  it  is  all  the  while  under  the  delusion  of  a  dream. 
The  unsatisfied  heart,  living  away  from  God,  is  constantly 
plied  with  false  reliances  and  deceitful  expectations  which 
prevent  the  consciousness  of  its  real  want  and  beggary. 
There  is  yet  a  scheme  to  try,  yet  a  hope  to  test — a  bro- 
ken cistern  to  go  to.  The  woild  keeps  up  a  constant  suc- 
cession of  expectations,  and  so  sustains  the  dream.  But, 


THE  FINAL  SATISFACTION  OF  THE  BELIEVER  IN  JESUS.      469 

by  and  by,  conies  death  and  banishes  every  delusion,  and 
takes  the  soul  away  to  an  eternity  where,  not  only  is  its 
whole  condition  forever  fixed,  but  perfectly  understood 
and  realized.  The  thirst  of  heart  remains ;  the  faculties, 
created  to  be  satisfied  only  in  God,  remain;  the  man  is 
there  just  the  same  that  he  was  here,  only  with  every  power 
of  mind  intensely  quickened,  and  every  want  therefore 
intensely  felt,  and  every  hope  perfectly  destroyed.  There 
is  nothing  new  to  be  tried ;  no  dream  to  afford  a  tran- 
sient relief;  nothing  but  self  to  feed  on.  Oh  !  then  must 
the  heart  experience  within  itself,  in  its  own  aching,  grow- 
ing, burning,  exacting,  hopeless  desires,  "  a  worm  that  di- 
eth  not,  and  a  fire  that  cannot  be  quenched."  Then  will 
wants,  now  kept  under  and  in  comparative  peace,  by  de- 
ceitful hopes,  be  kindled  into  a  fierce  flame  of  entire  de- 
spair, exhibiting,  what  it  were  well  for  us  now  to  know, 
better  than  we  do,  that  man,  alienated  from  God,  carries 
always  with  him  in  this  life,  in  the  large  and  unappeased 
desires  of  his  nature,  the  essential  element  of  his  fiery 
torment  in  the  world  to  come,  an  element  all  ready  for  its 
work  and  waiting  only  the  breath  of  the  Almighty,  in  the 
sentence  of  eternal  banishment,  to  kindle  it. 

And  now  let  us  put  the  question,  what  can  relieve  the 
unsatisfied  heart  in  the  present  life?  Suppose  this  whole 
world  a  paradise ;  death  with  all  its  train  of  woes  extermi- 
nated; every  thing  about  us  restored  to  its  condition  as 
it  was,  before  sin  introduced  the  curse  and  blight ;  sup- 
pose nothing  unrestored  but  man;  he,  however,  again  in 
paradise,  but  still  the  fallen  man,  holding  no  communion 
of  heart  with  God,  arid  incapable,  by  the  state  of  his  heart, 
of  such  communion !  Will  he  be  satisfied?  The  mass  of 


470  SERMON   XXI. 

mankind,  not  knowing  themselves,  will  say,  Certainly, 
what  more  can  he  want  ?  But  I  say,  Something  infinitely 
more  and  better,  and  more  exalted,  he  does  and  must 
want.  He  is  without  God.  And  it  is  the  fixed  decree  of 
the  Almighty,  established  on  the  day  of  creation,  and 
written  then  in  the  constitution  of  our  nature,  never  to 
be  canceled,  that  the  faculties  of  our  minds,  and  the  af- 
fections of  our  hearts  are  never  to  be  satisfied  but  in  the 
love,  in  the  communion,  of  our  Creator.  The  brute,  with- 
out a  rational  soul,  pastures  upon  the  ground,  and  is  satis- 
fied. Of  the  earth  he  is  earthy ;  and  is  therefore  contented 
with  the  earth.  But  man  must  have  higher  aliment  than 
the  creature.  His  nature,  though  not  divine,  is  so  fash- 
ioned, that  divinity  alone  can  meet  its  wants.  He  is  not 
infinite,  but  infinity  alone,  the  boundless  riches  of  the 
grace  and  love  of  God  alone,  can  satisfy.  Communion  of 
heart  and  soul  with  God,  on  the  essential  basis  of  likeness 
in  spiritual  character,  is  the  great  law  of  human  happiness. 
He  who  stationed  the  sun  at  the  center  of  our  planetary 
system,  and  bound  it  for  a  law  in  the  being  of  our  every 
star,  that  it  shall  keep  perpetual  orbit  round  that  sun,  and 
never  shine  but  as  it  holds  communion  with  its  light;  he 
hath  placed  himself  as  the  central  and  only  source  of 
blessedness  to  all  his  intelligent  creatures,  ordaining  for- 
ever, that  they  shah1  live  in  communion  of  spirit  with  him, 
or  live  in  utter  spiritual  beggary  without  him ;  and  the 
planet  that  should  break  its  orbit  would  not  more  neces- 
sarily become  a  darkened  wanderer,  than  must  a  soul, 
alienated  from  God,  become  more  and  more  benighted  and 
miserable,  a  wanderer  in  the  outer  darkness,  further  and 
further.  The  earth  may  pass  away,  but  that  law  written 


THE  FINAL  SATISFACTION  OF  THE  BELIEVER  IN  JESUS.    471 

man's  being,  can  never  pass  away.  Men  may  not  care 
to  think  of  it  or  believe  it,  but  it  is  written.  There  are 
multitudes  indeed,  who  cherish  a  proud  feeling  of  inde- 
pendence of  God,  and  to  whom  nothing  seems  more  for- 
eign than  that  they  should  have  any  need  of  his  commu- 
nion. If  they  can  escape  the  power  of  his  wrath,  it  is 
all  they  suppose  they  need.  They  will  trust  their  own 
resources,  and  will  be  the  architects  of  their  own  happi- 
ness, and  will  be  indebted  to  none  else  for  its  materials. 
But  still  that  dependence,  in  spite  of  them,  remains.  Sat- 
isfied without  God,  they  cannot  be.  So  hath  he  ordained 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  Were  it  even  possible  for 
this  earth,  by  its  own  resources,  to  meet  their  wants,  all 
things  therein  are  laid  under  the  interdict  of  the  Al- 
mighty, which  forbids  them  to  afford  a  home  or  resting 
place  to  the  heart  of  man,  so  long  as  he  continues  apostate 
and  ex-communicate  from  his  Maker. 

Thus  we  arrive  at  the  basis  of  one  of  the  great  doc- 
trines of  the  Gospel,  concerning  our  salvation :  "  Except 
a  man  be  born  again  lie  cannot  seethe  kingdom  of  God ;"  the 
necessity  of  a  new  birth,  a  new  creation,  by  the  Holy 
Ghost.  For  if  communion  with  God  be  essential  to  pres- 
ent satisfaction ;  much  more  must  it  be  to  the  heavenly 
blessedness.  And  if  there  can  be  no  communion  without 
likeness  ;  if  without  being  like  God  in  holiness  of  heart, 
we  cannot  be  qualified  for  his  holy  presence,  then  must  that 
image  of  God  in  which  man  was  originally  created,  and  which 
is  now  lost,  be  created  in  man  anew.  These  two  points 
the  scriptures  settle  without  dispute  :  first,  that  "  without 
holiness,  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord ;  "  secondly,  that  with- 
out being  born  again  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  no  man  can  have 


472  SERMON   XXI. 

holiness.  The  universal  description  of  those  who  live, 
and  are  capable  of  living,  in  the  communion  and  fellowship 
of  an  infinitely  holy  God,  is,  "  We  are  his  workmanship, 
created  in  Christ  Jesus"*  Love  is  the  very  element  of 
that  communion.  "  He  that  loveth  me  (said  the  Saviour) 
shall  be  loved  of  my  Father,  and  I  will  love  him,  and  will 
manifest  myself  to  him."  "We  will  come  unto  him  and 
make  our  abode  with  him."  f 

But,  saith  the  Psalmist,  in  the  text,  "I  shall  be  satisfied 
when  I  aivalce,  with  thy  likeness."  He  puts  off,  you  per- 
ceive, the  time  of  his  being  satisfied  in  the  communion  of 
God,  to  another  life.  But  why  so  ?  Hath  he  not  that  com- 
munion now?  Doth  he  not  already  sing,  in  the  joy  of 
his  soul,  "The  Lord  is  my  light  and  my  salvation ;  whom 
shall  I  fear  ?  the  Lord  is  the  strength  of  my  life ;  of 
whom  shall  I  be  afraid  ?  "  j  Is  he  not  seated  beside  the 
waters  of  that  full  river,  "  the  streams  whereof  make 
glad  the  City  of  God,"  and  of  which  it  is  the  privilege  of 
every  inhabitant  of  that  city  to  drink  ?  Why  then  is  he 
not  satisfied  already  ?  And  the  same  we  ask  concerning 
every  citizen  of  the  commonwealth  of  Israel.  He  is  not 
satisfied  yet ;  he  is  looking  forward  to  another  life,  to  be 
satisfied.  And  yet,  has  he  not  been  created  anew  in 
Christ  Jesus,  and  thus  restored  to  the  image  of  God ;  and 
so  to  his  blessed  communion  ?  Is  it  not  now  his  privilege, 
and  is  he  not  qualified  by  the  new  affections  of  his  heart, 
to  draw  nigh  to  God,  and  pour  out  his  soul  before  him,  in 
love  and  praise ;  and  doth  not  God,  according  to  his  own 
word,  "make  his  abode  with  him ;  "  and  hath  he  not  the 
promise  of  the  Saviour,  "  He  that  bdieveth  on  me  shall 

*Eph.  ii.  10.  fJohn  xiv.  21—23.  JPs.  xxvii.  1. 


THE  FINAL  SATISFACTION  OF  THE  BELIEVER  IN  JESUS.     473 

never  thirst?"*     And  yet  he  does  thirst ;  he  is  not  satis- 
fied.    How  is  this  ? 

We  answer :  In  one  very  important  sense  the  child  of 
God  is  satisfied  now.  He  is  so  satisfied  with  what  he  has 
obtained  in  God,  that  he  desires  nothing  in  its  steady  but 
only  more  of  that.  Men  of  the  world  are  not  satisfied, 
because  they  want  some  things  else  than  they  possess. 
The  child  of  God  is  so  satisfied  that  he  only  wants  more 
of  what  he  possesses.  The  traveler  in  a  desert  land,  after 
many  days  of  painful  thirst,  going  from  place  to  place, 
for  water,  and  finding  every  promised  spring  dried  up,  at 
length  finds  the  overflowing  fountain.  It  is  sufficient.  He 
will  seek  no  further.  He  thinks  not  of  substituting  the 
sand  of  the  desert  for  its  waters.  More  of  it  he  will  want. 
Other  than  it,  he  wants  not,  and  thus  is  he  satisfied.  Thus 
sat  David  besides  such  a  fountain,  when  he  sung,  "  My 
heart  is  fixed,  0,  God,  my  heart  is  fixed:  I  will  sing  and 
give  praise."!  He  had  been  seeking  fixedness  and  rest 
of  heart  too  much  in  earthly  hopes.  One  dependence  after 
another  had  been  sought,  and  trusted  in,  and  had  failed. 
Now,  his  affections  have  found  a  sure  resting  place.  He 
has  taken  God  for  his  refuge  and  exclusive  portion.  His 
heart,  therefore,  is  fixed;  and  certain  that  he  cannot  be 
disappointed  in  that  trust,  he  can  sing  for  joy,  and  give 
praise  out  of  the  fullness  of  his  gratitude.  He  is  satisfied. 
He  knows  he  has  found  what  he  needed.  There  is 
nothing  else  to  be  sought.  Nothing  can  add  to  the  suffi- 
ciency of  that  portion.  "  Whom  have  I,  in  heaven,  but 
thee  ;  and  there  is  none  upon  earth  I  desire  beside  thee. 

*Jolinvi.35.  tPs.hrii.7. 


474  SERMON  XXI. 

My  strength  and  niy  heart  faileth ;  but  God  is  the  strength 
of  my  heart  and  my  portion,  forever.""* 

David's  experience,  in  that  respect,  is  still  the  experi- 
ence of  the  people  of  God.  The  sinner,  who,  in  his  state 
of  alienation  from  God,  has  been  wandering  from  one  de- 
vice to  another,  seeking  rest  and  finding  none,  and  who 
is  now  brought  to  seek  in  Christ,  the  peace  of  God,  and 
there  to  fix  his  heart,  is  satisfied.  He  knows  he  has  cho- 
sen that  good  part  which  cannot  disappoint  him.  He  is 
not  making  a  mere  experiment.  When  the  question  arises, 
"  Who  will  show  us  any  good  ?"  his  answer  is  at  hand 
"Lord  lift  thou  up  the  light  of  thy  countenance  upon  us."| 

But  still,  while  David's  heart  was  thus  fixed  on  God, 
there  was  an  important  sense  in  which  he  was  not  satisfied 
What  exceeding  strength  of  language  does  he  use  to  ex- 
press his  earnest  longings  for  a  more  perfect  rest !  "  As 
the  hart  panteth  after  the  water-brooks,  so  panteth  my 
soul  after  thee,  0,  God !  My  soul  is  athirst  for  God. 
When  shall  I  come  to  appear  before  the  presence  of 
God !  "J  There  is  evidently  a  deep  feeling  of  dissatis- 
faction with  present  attainment.  But  what  is  he  thirst- 
ing for  ?  Something  besides  God,  or  only  more  of  God  ? 
The  more  he  is  satisfied,  the  more  he  wants.  Having  ex- 
perienced such  delight  in  God,  under  the  imperfections  of 
the  present  life,  he  longs  for  the  time  when  he  may  stand 
in  open  vision,  in  God's  immediate  presence,  and  when  his 
cup  will  be  full.  Thus  it  is  that  the  promise  of  Jesus, 
"  he  that  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  will  give  him  shall 
never  thirst,"  is  not  all  fulfilled  in  the  present  life.  The 
godly  soul,  drinking  of  that  water,  does  thirst;  and  thirsts 

*  Ps.  Ixxiii.  25,  26.  fPs.  iv.  6.  $  Ps.  xlii.  1,  2. 


THE  FINAL  SATISFACTION  OP  THE  BELIEVER  IN  JESUS.     475 

the  more  because  he  drinks.  His  desire  of  more  is  quick- 
ened by  what  he  has.  Because  he  has  tasted  how  gra- 
cious the  Lord  is,  therefore  he  cries,  in  spirit,  "when  shall 
I  come  to  appear  before  the  presence  of  God,"  and  thus 
see  him  as  he  is  ?  Jesus  now  manifests  himself  unto  him 
as  he  doth  not  to  the  world;  but  not  as  he  doth  to  the 
saints  in  heaven.  Hence,  he  cannot  be  satisfied.  And 
the  simple  reason  is  that  the  likeness  of  God  in  him  is 
yet  imperfect,  and  hence  his  communion  with  God  is  im- 
perfect. He  is  like  God,  inasmuch  as  he  is  truly  holy ; 
he  is  not  like  him,  inasmuch  as  he  is  but  imperfectly 
holy.  He  is  God's  child  in  all  his  features,  but  in  none 
of  them  with  maturity  of  growth.  It  is  his  privilege  to 
have  access  to  his  Father  who  is  in  Heaven,  but  it  is  the 
access  of  a  child  in  the  nursery,  under  restraint  and  dis- 
cipline. The  rod  of  chastening  is  yet  needed.  The  pain 
of  the  hiding  of  the  Father's  countenance  has  sometimes 
to  be  endured.  He  is  fed  upon  the  King's  meat,  but  not 
yet  permitted  to  sit  down  at  the  King's  table.  Joseph 
loved  his  brethren,  and  knew  them  when  they  stood  be- 
fore him  in  the  house  of  Pharaoh,  and  he  yearned  over 
them  and  longed  to  make  himself  known  to  them,  but  the 
time  was  not  come ;  they  must  have  some  further  trials 
before  they  would  be  prepared  for  him  to  drop  the  veil 
and  say,  " J  am  Joseph"  As  yet,  therefore,  they  ate  of 
the  food  which  Joseph  sent,  but  they  ate  not  at  the  table 
where  Joseph  was.  Thus  God  sends  now  to  his  people, 
in  this  world,  the  communications  of  his  love ;  the  pre- 
cious gifts  of  his  Spirit ;  the  bread  which  giveth  eternal  life. 
He  comforts  and  sustains  and  rejoices  their  hearts ;  but 
he  receives  them  not  yet  to  the  fall  communion  and  sat- 


476  SERMON  XXI. 

isfaction  of  the  saints  "  made  perfect."  It  is  not  because 
he  does  not  love  them  enough;  but  because  they  are 
not  yet  sanctified  enough.  The  veil  is  that  of  their  own 
hearts.  There  is  darkness  remaining  there  which  can 
have  no  fellowship  with  him  who  is  Light.  There  is  un- 
holiness  remaining  there,  which  can  have  no  communion 
with  Him  whose  holiness  makes  even  the  heavens  unclean. 
In  this  imperfect,  but  progressive,  sanctification,  we  can 
"  take  the  cup  of  salvation  "  and  be  so  satisfied,  as  to  want 
nothing  better,  but  not  so  as  to  want  nothing  more,  even  that 
instead  of  a  cup  brought  to  us  in  this  distant  wilderness, 
we  may  have  the  blessedness  of  partaking  directly  of  the 
river  of  life  as  it  proceeds  "  out  of  the  throne  of  God  and 
the  Lamb."  Better  than  what  we  have,  cannot  be,  for  it 
is  of  God.  More  of  it,  we  must  have,  in  proportion  as  we 
get  nearer  to  God,  in  the  perfectness  of  our  likeness  to 
his  holiness.  And  when  his  image  shall  be  all  complete  in 
us,  no  sinfulness  remaining  to  be  cleansed  away,  no  feature 
of  holiness  to  be  brought  out  in  more  maturity;  when  he 
who  sitteth  "  as  a  refiner  and  purifier  of  silver,"  shall  be- 
hold in  us,  as  in  Adam,  when  just  created,  the  full  reflec- 
tion of  his  own  likeness,  every  vestige  of  the  fall  obliter- 
ated, every  end  of  the  redemption  of  Christ  accomplished, 
so  that  we  are  qualified  to  behold  "  his  face  in  righteous- 
ness ;"  then  will  that  face  be  unveiled  in  its  ineffable  glo- 
ry; the  brethren  will  be  taken  to  the  table  of  their  brother, 
the  Lord  Jesus,  who  is  "  head  over  all  things  "  for  their 
sake;  the  children  will  be  received  to  the  immediate  pres- 
ence and  vision  of  their  Father  who  is  in  Heaven.  They 
shall  see  him  as  he  is,  for  they  shall  be  like  him.*  They 
shall  be  satisfied. 

*  1  John  ii.  2. 


THE  FINAL  SATISFACTION  OF   THE  BELIEVER  IN  JESUS.    477 

This  leads  us  to  the  time  when  the  Psalmist  expected 
to  be  in  possession  of  that  consummation  of  happiness. 
"  I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake,  with  thy  likeness." 
When  I  aivalce.  We  have  no  doubt  that  the  awaking  of 
the  dead  at  the  resurrection  of  the  just,  was  what  David 
was  especially  anticipating  when  he  wrote  these  words. 
But  we  may  suppose  him  to  have  had  reference  also  to  a 
nearer  event.  There  must  be  something  very  like  awak- 
ing out  of  sleep,  when  the  soul,  disembodied  at  death, 
first  beholds  those  things  eternal,  the  glory  of  God,  the 
inheritance  of  the  saints,  of  which  in  this  life  it  had  form- 
ed so  feeble  a  conception.  There  is  nothing  indeed  in  an 
immortal  spirit  departing  from  the  body,  analogous  to  the 
falling  asleep  of  the  body  in  death,  and  waiting  till  the 
resurrection  before  it  lives  again.  There  is  no  unconscious- 
ness. But  there  is  something  in  the  whole  condition  of  a 
soul  before  it  departs  hence ;  in  all  its  views  and  ideas  of 
the  future;  in  the  thraldom  of  its  powers;  in  the  dreami- 
ness of  its  best  thoughts  of  the  heavenly  state,  very  like 
the  movements  of  our  minds  in  sleep.  What  torpor  holds 
down  our  faculties  when  we  try  to  realize  what,  if  God's 
people,  we  soon  shall  be  !  How  drowsy  and  dull  our  live- 
liest conceptions  of  things  unseen  and  eternal !  How  feebly 
and  confusedly  do  our  ears  hear  the  sounds  from  the  eter- 
nal world,  bidding  us  give  diligence  to  be  ready  to  meet 
our  God !  How  little  we  feel  what  we  are,  and  whither 
going !  Will  not  the  soul  seem  to  itself  to  have  sudden- 
ly awaked  out  of  sleep,  as  if  the  shadows  and  dreams, 
and  insensibility,  of  a  night  of  slumber  had  all  been  dis- 
persed at  once,  and  almost  a  new  existence  begun,  when 
coming  forth  from  the  "earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle," 


478  SERMON    XXI. 

it  shall  find  itself  in  the  midst  of  the  heavenly  inhabit- 
ants, in  the  unveiled  glory  of  their  eternal  portion,  in  the 
immediate  presence  and  vision  of  their  great  God  and 
Saviour,  Jesus  Christ  ? 

But  when  thus  we  awake,  it  will  be  with  God's  like- 
ness. The  departed  child  of  God  will  see  his  face  in  a 
righteousness  made  perfect.  The  work  of  sanctification 
will  have  been  completed  at  the  dissolution  of  the  body. 
The  Christian  departed  is  thus  all  ready  for  the  presence 
of  the  glory  of  God.  He  goes  therefore  into  that  pres- 
ence, and  abides  there,  without  hindrance  to  the  most  per- 
fect communion,  and  is  satisfied  in  "  the  fulness  of  God." 

But  there  is  still  a  sense  in  which  he  looks  forward  to  a 
period  of  more  complete  satisfaction.  All  that  the  dis- 
embodied spirit  is,  all  the  powers  and  faculties  it  possess- 
es, are  satisfied.  It  knows  no  want.  It  rests  from  its 
labors.  "Absent  from  the  body,"  it  is  "present  with  the 
Lord."*  Its  communion  with  God  is  full;  every  veil 
taken  away.  But  still  it  is  "absent  from  the  body ;"  and  it 
is  absent,  not  from  choice,  but  because  the  body  is  under 
the  bondage  of  death,  and  as  long  as  it  lies  there,  the 
penalty  of  sin  is  upon  it,  and  the  redemption  of  man  is 
not  complete.  It  is  as  much  against  nature,  and  in  con- 
travention of  the  purpose  of  God  in  our  creation;  it  is  as 
really  a  continuance  of  the  power  of  death,  for  the  soul 
to  be  absent  from  the  body,  as  for  the  body  to  be  deprived 
of  the  soul.  If  the  immortal  spirit  be  the  only  life  of  the 
body;  the  body  is  the  only  proper  habitation  of  that 
spirit.  And  so  long  as  their  separation  lasts,  both  are  in- 
heriting the  consequences  of  sin ;  the  one  as  lying  in  the 

*2  Cor.  v.  8. 


THE  FINAL  SATISFACTION  OF   THE   BELIEVER  IN  JESUS.    479 

corruption  of  the  grave,  the  other  as  living  in  exclusion 
from  a  residence  wonderfully  made  for  it,  by  the  wisdom 
and  power  of  God. 

Hence  it  is  promised,  as  the  finishing  work  of  the  redemp- 
tion of  Christ,  which  is  to  destroy  all  the  works  of  the  devil 
in  his  people,  and  make  a  full  end  of  all  that  sin  has  done, 
that  this  absence  from  the  body  shall  have  an  end.  The 
grave  is  to  be  made  to  give  up  its  dead.  Its  prisoned 
bodies  are  to  be  unbound.  Its  corruption  is  to  put  on  in- 
corruption,  Its  mortal  is  to  put  on  immortality.  In  the 
perfectness  of  the  original  creation  shall  the  bodies  of  the 
dead  in  Christ  come  forth.  Yea  more,  "He  shall  change 
our  vile  bodies  and  make  them  like  unto  his  own  glorious 
body"  so  that,  as  our  souls  shall  be  like  him  in  holiness, 
our  bodies  also  shall  be  like  him  in  glory.  And  think  ye, 
that  those  blessed  ones,  who  died  in  the  Lord  and  are  now 
blessed  with  the  Lord,  do  not  remember  with  the  fondest 
expectation  that  promise  of  a  glorious,  triumphant  resur- 
rection of  their  bodies  ?  Can  they  regard  the  work  of 
their  Redeemer  as  finished,  so  long  as  there  remains  a 
word  of  that  declaration  unfulfilled  :  "I  will  ransom  them 
from  the  power  of  the  grave ;  I  will  redeem  them  from 
death ;  0  death,  I  will  be  thy  plagues ;  0  grave,  I  will  be 
thy  destruction  ?":  What  nearer  union  can  take  place 
than  the  marriage  between  the  soul  and  its  body;  and 
what  more  violent,  unnatural  divorce,  than  when  they  are 
separated  at  death;  and  next  to  the  redemption  of  the 
soul  from  the  condemnation  of  sin,  what  more  worthy  ob- 
ject of  the  redemption  achieved  by  our  blessed  Lord  can 
there  be,  than  the  restoration  to  the  ransomed  soul  of  its 

*Hosea  xiii.  14. 


480  SERMON    XXI. 

long  lost  and  ruined  body,  raised  from  death,  and  invested 
with  the  glory  of  him  who  is  "  the  resurrection  of  the 
life?"  Is  there  a  spot  on  earth,  therefore,  which  a  child 
of  God  now  "  absent  from  the  body,  and  present  with  the 
Lord,"  remembers  with  more  interest  than  that  where  his 
body  was  buried;  where  its  dust  lies  mingled  with  the  dust 
of  the  earth,  forgotten  of  men,  seen  of  God ;  and  whence, 
on  a  day  soon  coming,  it  is  to  come  forth,  at  the  sounding 
of  the  last  trump,  incorruptible  and  immortal,  to  be  one 
with  that  soul  again,  and  that  forever  and  ever?  Hence, 
satisfied  as  that  disembodied  spirit  is,  because  made  per- 
fect in  holiness,  and  now  in  free  and  perfect  communion 
with  God;  satisfied,  because  all  its  own  capacities  are  filled 
with  blessedness;  we  must  suppose  there  is  a  time  coming 
when,  as  by  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  it  will  be  more 
completely  restored  from  the  consequences  of  sin,  so  will 
it  be  restored  by  the  same  cause  to  means,  and  avenues, 
and  capacities  of  bliss  which  in  its  separate  state  it  could 
not  have  ;  and  hence  to  a  satisfaction  peculiar  to  that  peri- 
od of  the  Church,  which  will  succeed  the  resurrection. 
Thus  we  understand  St.  Paul,  when  he  speaks  of  those 
who  have  "the  first  fruits  of  the  Spirit "  as  "waiting  for  the 
redemption  of  the  lody"*  So  waits  now  that  holy  patri- 
arch whose  exulting  anticipation  of  the  resurrection  we 
repeat  at  the  burial  of  our  dead,  "  I  know  that  my  Re- 
deemer liveth,  and  that  he  shall  stand  at  the  latter  day 
upon  the  earth,  and  though,  after  my  skin,  worms  destroy 
this  body,  yet  in  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God."f  It  cannot 
be  to  Job,  or  to  the  rest  of  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord,  a 
matter  of  indifference,  that  worms  have  now  destroyed 

*Rom;  viii.  23.  f  Job  xix.  25,  26. 


THE  FINAL  SATISFACTION  OF   THE  BELIEVER  IN  JESUS.    481 

those  bodies  in  which  they  once  dwelt.  It  must  be  a  mat- 
ter of  earnest  expectation,  knowing  as  they  now  do,  how 
truly  their  Redeemer  liveth  and  reigneth,  that  he  will 
soon  "stand  on  the  earth"  in  the  midst  of  the  graves  of  his 
saints,  and  force  them  to  give  up  their  dead.  It  was  that 
awaking,  to  which  David  in  the  text  looked  forward,  and 
to  which  his  spirit,  absent  from  the  body,  though  full  of 
glory,  still  looks  forward  ;  "  /  shall  be  satisfied  when  I 
awake  ivith  thy  likeness" 

That  will  be  the  day  of  the  fulfillment,  as  never  before, 
of  that  which  has  been  so  long  written,  "  Death  is  swal- 
lowed up  in  victory"*  Death  is  now  conquered  in 
every  departed  believer.  But  then  it  will  be  swallowed 
up,  lost,  abolished  in  victory.  There  will  be  no  more 
death  to  the  people  of  God.  Death  will  all  be  dead.  And 
the  song  of  praise  shall  ascend  from  the  whole  ransomed 
multitude,  "Thanks  to  God  who  giveth  us  the  victory 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ !  "|  0,  then,  indeed,  will 
the  Christian  be  satisfied.  In  his  flesh,  he  will  see  God. 
His  eyes  shall  behold  that  unsearchable  glory.  It  is  im- 
possible for  us,  who  have  not  yet  awaked  out  of  the  sleep- 
iness and  dreaminess  of  the  fleshly  habitation,  who,  hav- 
ing never  been  absent  from  the  body,  can  form  no  concep- 
tion of  the  state  of  a  disembodied  spirit ;  it  is  impossible 
for  us  to  form  any  definite  idea  of  the  additions  to  the 
blessedness  of  the  saints  in  glory,  which  the  day  of  resur- 
rection will  bring.  It  is  enough  for  us  to  say  and  believe 
with  St.  John,  "  When  Christ  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like 
him,  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  aVJ 

The  appearance   of  our  Lord,   when   he   cometh  to 

*  1  Cor.  xv.  54.  f  1  Co.  xv.  57.  $  1  John  iii.  2. 

31 


482  SERMON    XXI. 

raise  the  dead,  is  to  be  attended  with  a  great  en- 
largement of  the  capacities  of  the  saints  for  blessed- 
ness, and  consequently  a  great  enlargement  of  their 
fullness  of  joy  at  God's  right  hand.  "In  my  flesh, 
shall  I  see  God."  Our  whole  redeemed,  purified,  and 
perfected  nature,  so  far  superior  to  all  other  of  the  works 
of  divine  wisdom  and  power,  once  in  such  sinful  ruin  and 
desolation,  then  rebuilt  as  a  glorious  temple  for  the  wor- 
ship of  God  forever,  adorned  with  the  beauty  of  a  most 
perfect  holiness,  fragrant  with  the  incense  of  a  most  per- 
fect love,  and  filled  with  the  memorials  of  the  redeeming 
grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  will  be  taken  possession 
of,  and  inhabited  by,  the  glory  of  God,  as  when  the  bright 
cloud  came  down  upon  the  new-built  temple  of  Jerusalem, 
and  "  filled  the  house  of  the  Lord."  All  the  inner  cham- 
bers ;  all  the  mysterious  and  vast  capacities  of  that  reno- 
vated and  exalted  nature  will  be  filled  with  God.  St.  Paul 
speaks  of  that  glorified  state,  as  that  in  which  the  saints 
will  be  "fitted  with  all  the  fullness  of  God:'*  Think  of  that 
expression  !  It  measures  "the  breadth,  and  length,  and 
depth,  and  height,"  of  heaven.  "Filled  with  all  the  fullness 
of  God"  !  Every  faculty,  every  affection,  every  desire, 
every  thought,  every  sense,  thus  filled ;  thus  in  immediate 
communion  with  the  glory  of  Jehovah  !  It  is  in  vain  that 
we  endeavor  to  reach  a  height  of  thought  from  which  to 
survey  even  a  little  margin  of  that  promised  inheritance. 
Our  loftiest  mount  of  vision  is  enveloped  in  cloud.  Our 
best  anticipations,  when  the  full  reality  comes,  will  be  found 
"but  as  dreams  when  one  awaketh."  There  must  be 
a  boundless  difference  between  seeing  that  inheritance 

*  Eph.  iii.  19. 


THE  FINAL  SATISFACTION  OF  THE  BELIEVER  IN  JESUS.     483 

"through  a  glass  darkly"  and  seeing  it  "face  to  face." 
We  have  not  yet  awaked.  Our  best  conceptions  are 
sleepy  and  imaginary.  Bat  when  we  do  awake  with  God's 
likeness,  we  shall  be  satisfied. 

And  now,  my  brethren,  with  some  considerations  arising 
out  of  the  views  we  have  been  occupied  with,  we  will  con- 
clude this  discourse. 

1st.  Let  us  be  careful,  when  we  indulge  a  hope  of  the 
heavenly  bliss,  that  it  is  the  heavenly  bliss  we  are  hoping 
for,  and  not  some  creation  of  our  own  imagination.  Many 
a  man  who  comforts  himself  with  such  hope,  would  find 
nothing  that  his  heart  could  enjoy  in  the  happiness  of 
the  saints,  were  it  once  revealed  to  his  view.  How  infi- 
nitely is  it  exalted  above  the  groveling  ideas  which  the 
world  forms  of  its  nature,  as  if  any  but  a  holy  heart  could 
know  it.  You  have  heard,  in  this  discourse,  how  the  scrip- 
tures speak  of  it.  Job's  expectation  of  it  was,  "  In  my 
flesh,  I  shall  see  God."  David's,  "I  will  behold  thy  face 
in  righteousness."  John's,  "We  shall  be  like  him,  for  we 
shall  see  him  as  he  is  "  Our  Lord  expressed  the  same, 
when  he  prayed:  "Father,  I  will  that  those  whom  thou 
hast  given  me,  be  with  me  where  I  am ;  that  they  may 
behold  my  glory."*  You  see  the  grand  idea.  Intimate 
communion  with  God ;  happiness  arising  out  of  being  with 
him;  such  is  the  highest  conception  presented  in  the 
scriptures  of  the  life  eternal.  We  love  to  speak  of  it  in 
the  beautiful  imagery  of  the  scriptures;  but  let  us  take 
care  that  we  rest  not  in  the  imagery.  To  think  of  heaven 
as  "  a  rest  which  remaineth  to  the  people  of  God,"  gives  a 
refreshing  prospect  to  the  wearied  heart ;  but  we  must  be 

*  John  xvii.  24. 


484  SERMON  XXI. 

careful  to  think  of  it  as  a  Sabbath-iest,  a  holy  rest — rest 
in  God ;  rest  which  none  but  holy  hearts  can  know.  The 
sorrowful  heart,  to  which  all  this  world,  viewed  through 
the  darkness  of  affliction,  appears  shrouded  in  continual 
night,  dwells  with  pleasure  on  the  thought,  there  shall  be 
no  night  there.  But  you  must  remember  that  it  is  only 
because  the  saints  shall  see  the  face  of  the  glory  of  God ; 
and  that  to  all  who  are  not  prepared  by  a  personal  holiness 
to  commune  with  that  glory,  it  is  all  night,  even  as  the 
brightest  day  is  darkness  to  the  blind. 

I  doubt  not  there  will  be  innumerable  contributions  to 
the  happiness  of  that  inheritance  ;  beauties  to  the  eye, 
harmonies  to  the  ear,  noble  offices  for  every  faculty  of 
mind,  a  universe  of  knowledge  to  enjoy;  intellectual  and 
spiritual  communion  with  the  works  and  people  of  God ; 
a  thousand  inlets  and  streams  of  bliss,  of  which  we  can 
have  no  conception  here.  But  they  will  be  only  the  tribu- 
taries to  the  ocean.  They  will  aid,  but  not  contribute, 
the  blessedness.  To  its  great  source  in  the  divine  full- 
ness, they  will  stand  related,  as  the  loveliness  of  the  gar- 
den of  Paradise,  to  Adam's  walking  with  God  in  its 
midst;  the  smiles  of  God  reflected,  his  praises  echoed, 
his  love  expressed;  all  of  them  only  the  varied  forms 
under  which  he  will  spread  the  table  of  his  heavenly 
communion.  But  the  King,  himself,  shall  come  in  to  see 
the  guests,  and  " God  will  be  ally  and  in  all" 

2d.  You  must  see,  brethren,  how  great  and  radical  is 
the  spiritual  change,  the  change  of  heart,  which  all  must 
undergo,  before  they  can  enter  into  that  life  of  the  world 
to  come.  Great  is  the  contrast  and  the  opposition,  be- 
tween the  aspect  in  which  the  scriptures  represent  the 


THE   FINAL  SATISFACTION  OF  THE  BELIEVER  IN  JESUS.    485 

heavenly  felicity,  and  the  affections  and  dispositions  of 
the  natural  mind.  What,  to  the  world,  is  less  interesting, 
more  insipid,  less  capable  of  their  appreciation,  than  the 
expectation  of  David:  "I  shall  behold  thy  face  in  right- 
eousness; I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake,  with  thy  like- 
ness." Communion  with  God !  what  is  there  which  the 
unregenerate  heart  cannot  more  easily  partake  in,  and 
enjoy  ?  0,  how  utterly  dead  is  that  heart  to  all  such 
blessedness !  Instead  of  seeking  it,  hungering  for  it, 
thinking  of  all  future  happiness  as  consisting  in  its  per- 
fection ;  it  turns  away  from  it,  to  almost  any  communion 
with  earthly  things  as  a  relief,  and  feels  positively  averse 
to  expending  a  single  thought  upon  endeavoring  to  draw 
nigh  to  God.  My  hearers,  is  this  your  state  ?  Must 
heaven  change  its  whole  nature,  before  you  could  be  hap- 
py there  ?  But  it  will  not  What  then  ?  Why  you  must 
be  changed  in  your  whole  spiritual  nature,  if  you  would 
be  capable  of  happiness  in  heaven.  A  mighty  change,  on 
one  side  or  other,  there  must  be,  or  you  cannot  see  the 
kingdom  of  God.  "  Ye  must  be  lorn  again"  is  a  requisi- 
tion, founded,  not  merely  in  the  will  of  God,  but  in  the 
nature  of  heaven,  and  in  the  fallen,  sinful,  alienated 
condition  of  the  nature  of  man. 

3d.  You  see,  my  brethren,  how  good  an  evidence  it  is 
that  God's  work  of  grace  hath  place  in  you,  and  that  you 
are  being  prepared  to  "  see  his  face  in  righteousness,"  if 
now  you  "hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness."  A 
precious  blessing  has  our  Lord  pronounced  on  that  state 
of  mind.  The  hungering  soul  "shall  be  filled"  It  shall 
be  filled  with  the  holiness  it  seeks.  In  other  words,  it 
shall  be  satisfied.  That  earnest  appetite  for  holiness,  is 


486  SERMON  XXI. 

the  surest  evidence  of  holiness  already  begun.  It  is  the 
exercise  of  that  very  grace  which  it  seeks.  It  is  the 
fruit  of  the  Spirit  of  holiness,  by  which  he  witnesses  with 
your  spirits  that  you  are  born  of  God.  It  is  the  very  es- 
sence of  all  true  prayer,  and  must  be  answered.  It  is 
that  beginning  of  communion  with  God,  which  has  only  to 
go  on,  to  enlarge  at  last  into  the  fullness  of  the  commu- 
nion of  heaven.  "  My  sheep  hear  my  voice  and  they  fol- 
low me,  (saith  the  good  shepherd,)  and  I  give  unto  them 
eternal  life."  That  following  of  the  heart  after  Christ ; 
that  hungering  for  more  of  the  bread  which  he  giveth; 
that  bleating  of  the  sheep  after  the  fountain  of  water  to 
which  he  leads  his  flock,  satisfied  no  where  else,  expecting 
satisfaction  no  where  else ;  that  shews  where  you  belong, 
who  your  shepherd  is,  and  how  surely  eternal  life  will  be 
given  you  when  he  gathers  his  flock  around  him. 

Lastly ;  Let  those  who  have  in  their  hearts  the  evi- 
dence of  God's  children,  enjoy  the  expectation  of  what 
he  has  prepared  for  them  when  they  shall  awake  in  the 
world  to  come.  It  is  written,  "He  giveth  songs  in  the 
night."  Our  text  is  one  of  those  songs.  It  was  given 
to  David  in  a  dark  night,  when  the  wicked  compassed 
him  about.  His  heart  rejoiced  in  God  as  he  sung  these 
strains :  "  I  will  behold  thy  face  in  righteousness.  I  shall 
be  satisfied  when  I  awake,  with  thy  likeness." 

Brethren  in  the  Lord,  be  the  same  our  joy  in  the  trials 
of  our  pilgrimage  and  warfare  !  It  is  the  Lord's  song  in 
a  strange  land,  where  we  are  far  from  home  ;  the  land  of 
our  dispersion  and  bondage  ;  the  land  of  sorrows  and  dark- 
ness, of  enemies  and  conflict.  Have  ye  the  first  fruits  of 
the  Spirit  in  your  hearts,  as  a  pledge  and  foretaste  of  the 


THE  FINAL  SATISFACTION  OF  THE   BELIEVER   IN  JESUS.    487 

glorious  harvest  ?  Then  enjoy  the  blessed  hope  of  the 
full  fruition  of  that  harvest,  when  you  shall  rest  from  your 
labors.  The  more  you  find  in  this  world  to  afflict  you, 
the  more  let  your  hearts  be  feasted  with  the  prospect  of 
that  world  where  every  tear  is  wiped  away.  When  tribu- 
lation cometh  upon  you,  and  all  seems  dreary  and  empty 
here,  and  the  flesh  is  tempted  to  murmur,  remember  you 
have  in  heaven  "  an  enduring  substance,"  "  an  incorrupt- 
ible inheritance,"  "  a  crown  of  righteousness."  Seize  the 
harp  and  sing :  "  Why  art  thou  cast  down,  Oh  my  soul, 
and  why  art  thou  so  disquieted  within  me  !  Hope  thou 
in  God,  for  I  shall  yet  praise  him."  The  time  of  my  re- 
demption draweth  nigh,  when  I  shall  behold  thy  face,  0 
God,  in  righteousness.  I  shall  be  satisfied,  when  I  wake 
up  with  thy  likeness. 


SE1I10I  XXII. 

THE  MINISTER  OF  CHRIST  EXHORTED  TO  GROWTH  IN  GRACE. 


1  TIMOTHY,  vi.  11. 

"  Thou,  0  man  of    God,  flee  these  things,  and  follow  after  righteousness, 
godliness,  faith,  love,  patience,  meekness." 

THE  Epistles  of  St.  Paul  to  Timothy,  his  own  son  in  the 
faith,  are  impressive  records  of  the  deep  concern  of  that 
holy  Apostle,  for  the  spiritual  advancement  of  his  younger 
fellow  laborer  in  the  Gospel  field.  They  show  how,  in  his 
view,  the  growth  of  usefulness  in  the  ministry  depended 
on  growth  in  grace,  and  how  necessary  he  thought  it,  that 
whosoever  would  build  up  the  Church,  by  the  increase  of 
its  holiness  and  of  the  number  of  living  members  of 
Christ,  should  himself  be  built  up  in  the  deep  laid  and 
well  wrought  experience  of  things  pertaining  to  the 
Christian  life ;  that  whosoever  would  be  instrumental  in 
leading  sinners  to  the  fountain  of  life  in  Christ,  should  be 
a  man  well  acquainted  in  his  own  heart  with  the  precious- 
ness  of  that  living  water,  and  constantly  in  the  habit  of 
drinking  thereof,  for  his  own  spiritual  necessities.  The 
text  is  an  example  of  what  we  refer  to.  It  is  a  loud  call 
of  an  aged  and  experienced  ambassador  of  Christ  to  a 
young  minister  of  great  piety  and  promise,  warning  him 
against  dangers  which  might  ruin  his  usefulness,  by  ruin- 


THE  MINISTER  OF  CHRIST  EXHORTED  TO  GROWTH  IN  GRACE.    489 

ing  his  spirituality  of  mind,  and  urging  him  to  press  on 
after  an  ever  increasing  attainment  in  that  eminent  quali- 
fication for  his  ministry  which  is  found  in  a  vigorous, 
earnest,  and  growing  piety. 

I.  Let  us  first  consider  the  designation  under  which 
Timothy  is  addressed — " Thou  man  of  God" 

It  is  a  form  of  expression  which  frequently  occurs  in 
the  Old  Testament.  It  is  applied  to  Moses,  and  David, 
and  Elijah,  and  various  others.  But  we  find  it  there  used 
for  none  but  men  bearing  the  prophetic  office.  The  un- 
official members  of  the  Church,  however  eminent  in  holi- 
ness, and  however  honored  by  such  appellations,  as  "sons 
of  God,"  "the  peculiar  people  of  God,"  &c.,  &c.,  are  never 
called  as  Timothy  is  addressed  in  the  text ;  and  even  the 
official  men,  who  bore  the  dignity  of  priests  of  the  Levit- 
ical  Law,  except  such  of  them  as  were  also  called  to  the 
office  of  prophet,  were  not  so  named. 

Now,  the  reason  of  this  is  seen  in  the  meaning  of  the 
appellation.  "Man  of  God,"  means  God's  man  by  way 
of  eminence;  God's  messenger,  honored  with  a  special 
call  and  message ;  one  sent  upon  a  great  errand  from  God, 
and  specially  chosen  for  that  very  purpose.  Such  was 
not  the  call  of  the  Jewish  priest :  he  inherited  his  office, 
coming  to  it  by  virtue  of  his  connection  with  the  family 
of  Aaron.  Nor  was  the  Jewish  priest,  as  a  priest,  sent 
from  God  on  any  errand  to  man.  His  office  was  that 
of  an  intercessor,  on  the  part  of  man,  with  God.  Not  so 
the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament.  They  were  God's 
men  emphatically ;  they  came  directly  from  him  to  men, 
with  messages  of  solemn  import.  And  besides  this,  there 
was  no  inheriting  that  office.  The  prophet  was  person- 


490  SERMON  XXII. 

ally,  individually,  directly,  chosen  and  anointed  of  God 
for  his  work.     Thus  was  he  a  "man  of  God." 

Now,  the  minister  of  the  Gospel,  as  God's  messenger, 
is  the  prophet  of  the  Christian  dispensation.  He  is  a 
priest  indeed,  but  only  as  all  believers  in  Jesus  are  "a 
royal  priesthood,"*  to  offer  up  the  spiritual  sacrifices  of 
prayer  and  praise,  in  the  sanctuary  of  their  own  hearts, 
through  the  mediation  of  the  one  sacrifice  offered  once, 
for  all  in  the  priesthood  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  his  official 
distinctive  work,  the  minister  of  the  gospel  has  no  errand 
of  intercession  from  man  to  God.  His  office  is  simply  that  of 
an  ambassador  from  God  to  man;  and  his  call  to  that  office 
is,  in  every  case,  an  individual,  personal  call;  as  much  so, 
and  as  much  from  God,  as  was  that  of  Moses  in  Midian, 
or  of  Samuel  in  the  tabernacle,  or  of  Elisha  in  the  field, 
or  of  the  sons  of  Zebedee  at  the  sea  of  Tiberias,  or  of  Saul 
on  the  road  to  Damascus.f  If,  in  those  cases  just  men- 
tioned, the  call  from  the  Head  of  the  Church  was  heard 
by  the  ear,  in  a  voice  from  heaven;  and  if  the  call  of  the 
minister  of  the  Gospel  in  these  days,  by  the  same  au- 
thority, is  by  the  silent  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  speak- 
ing in  the  ear  only  of  a  listening  conscience,  there  is  still 
no  difference  as  to  the  reality  of  a  personal  and  direct 
call  from  God.  Hence  that  solemn  question  at  the  or- 
dination of  our  ministers,  the  answer  of  which  demands 
such  a  searching,  faithful,  prayerful  self-examination — 
"Do  you  trust  that  you  are  inwardly  moved  by  the 

*  1  Peter,  ii.  5,9. 

t  We  must  be  understood  here  as  speaking  exclusively  of  that  inward  call 
of  which,  under  God,  one's  own  conscience  is  the  final  judge.  To  the  out- 
ward call,  by  the  laying  on  of  hands,  we  have  no  allusion;  but  at  the  same 
time  we  would  guard  against  any  inference,  from  our  silence,  derogatory  to  its 
necessity. 


THE  MINISTER  OF  CHRIST  EXHORTED  TO  GROWTH  IN  GRACE.    491 

Holy  Ghost  to  take  upon  you  this  office  and  minis- 
tration?" And  hence  the  Church,  in  her  address  to 
those  who  are  ordained,  exhorts  them  to  consider 
that  they  are  called  "to  be  messengers,  watchmen,  and 
stewards  of  the  Lord."  Thus  is  the  minister  of  the  Gos- 
pel, who  has  been  truly  called,  a  man  of  God;  God's  man, 
for  God's  work.  And  hence  the  application  of  that  name 
to  Timothy  in  the  text,  "Thou,  0  man  of  God,  follow 
after  righteousness,  godliness,"  &c.  The  name  has  come 
down  from  him  to  us;  and  what  a  sermon  does  that  very 
name  preach  to  a  minister  of  Christ,  as  to  the  responsibility 
and  solemnity  of  his  work!  Who  does  not  so  realize  his 
short-coming  in  all  the  spirit  of  his  office,  and  all  the  duty 
it  involves,  as  to  feel  his  heart  shrink  at  the  application  to 
himself  of  such  a  title  ?  But  such  is  our  scriptural  ad- 
dress, brethren  in  the  ministry,  and  it  is  for  us  to  see 
that  we  honor  it,  by  diligently  obeying  the  exhortation 
addressed  to  us  in  the  text — "  Flee  these  things,  andfolloiv 
after  righteousness"  &c. 

II.  In  considering  this  exhortation,  let  us  first  speak 
of  what  we  are  here  enjoined  to  flee — "  These  things"  — 
what  things?  The  answer  is  in  the  previous  verses: 
"  They  that  will  be  rich  fall  into  temptation  and  a  snare, 
and  into  many  foolish  and  hurtful  lusts,  which  drown  men 
in  destruction  and  perdition.  For  the  love  of  money  is 
the  root  of  all  evil ;  which  while  some  have  coveted  after, 
they  have  erred  from  the  faith,  and  pierced  themselves 
through  with  many  sorrows."  Then  comes  the  exhorta- 
tion— "Man  of  God,  flee  these  things"  It  is  therefore 
the  desire  to  be  rich — the  love  of  worldly  possessions 
with  all  those  temptations  and  snares,  those  encumbering 


492  SERMON   XXII. 

cares  and  dangerous  worldly  lusts,  which  come  so  directly 
from  that  source,  and  so  often  drown  the  professing  Chris- 
tian in  spiritual  rain.  It  is  these  things  against  which  we 
are  exhorted. 

A  minister,  even  in  the  furthest  separation  from  the 
possibility  of  worldly  gain,  provides  no  escape  from  the 
exhortation  in  the  text.  It  is  not  probable  that  Timothy 
had  any  worldly  substance,  or  any  prospect  of  becoming 
possessed  of  much.  Days  of  persecution,  when  men  had 
literally  to  forsake  all  things  to  follow  Christ,  were  no 
times  to  lay  up  treasures  on  earth.  There  is  no  minister 
among  us  so  poor,  and  so  unlikely  ever  to  be  otherwise 
than  poor,  whom  it  would  not  be  quite  as  reasonable  still 
to  charge  against  the  love  of  money,  as  it  was  for  St. 
Paul  thus  solemnly  to  exhort  his  beloved  Timothy. 

The  truth  is,  brethren,  no  position  in  life  is  exempt 
from  this  rank  root  of  all  evil.  Ifc  is  indigenous  in  the 
heart  of  man,  and  stands  all  climates,  and  can  grow  under 
the  most  adverse  conditions.  The  heavy  foot  of  poverty 
cannot  tread  it  down,  so  that  it  will  not  grow  by  the  pres- 
sure, and  extract  sustenance  from  its  adversities.  The 
entire  impossibility  of  any  considerable  increase  of  worldly 
possessions  is  no  barrier  to  its  growth.  It  is  not  the 
man  who  'becomes  rich,  but  who  desires  to  be  rich,  that  falls 
into  the  temptation  and  snare.  It  is  not  the  having  but 
the  loving  of  money,  which  is  the  root  of  all  evil.  It  was 
some  who  " COVETED  after"  not  who  had  gained  wealth, 
that  Paul  spoke  of  as  having  "  erred  from  the  faith,  and 
pierced  themselves  through  with  many  sorrows."  The 
coveting  of  worldly  possessions  may  flourish  in  the  hearts 
of  beggars,  and  within  the  walls  of  a  monastery,  and  in 


THE  MINISTER  OF  CHRIST  EXHORTED  TO  GROWTH  IN  GRACE.    493 

the  narrow  worldly  circumstances  of  a  poor  village  pastor, 
as  luxuriantly  as  in  the  counting-rooms  of  merchants,  or 
the  haunts  of  the  exchange.  The  man  who  desires  only 
to  lay  up  an  amount,  which  to  another  would  be  but  a 
beggarly  pittance,  too  trifling  to  be  cared  for,  may  never- 
theless be  as  much  engrossed  and  cankered  by  that  desire 
as  another  with  the  coveting  of  millions. 

I  cannot  take  time  to  speak  of  the  destructive  effect  of 
such  a  passion  upon  the  heart  of  a  minister  of  Christ  as 
to  all  the  spirit  of  his  work,  or  upon  his  reputation  and 
usefulness.  The  mere  appearance  of  the  evil  is  a  blight 
upon  his  influence.  St.  Paul's  charge  to  Timothy  as  a 
man  of  God  was  "Flee  these  things"  Get  far  away  !  The 
very  neighborhood  is  dangerous;  the  atmosphere  is  infec- 
tious. The  same  charge  would  I  urge,  on  the  present  oc- 
casion, upon  those  especially  who  are  now  about  to  be 
received  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  Flee  these  things; 
all  worldly  lusts  indeed,  all  secularity  of  spirit ;  particu- 
larly that  which  fixes  and  incarnates  itself  in  that  root  of 
all  evil,  the  love  of  money,  whether  there  be  hope  of 
being  ever  much  increased  in  goods  or  not.  Be  de- 
termined that  the  breath  of  the  reputation  of  such  a 
spirit  shall  never  settle  upon  your  influence.  See  to  it 
that  your  motives  in  undertaking  the  ministry,  and  in  all 
its  future  prosecution,  be  elevated  far  above  that  level. 
Be  jealous  of  your  hearts  in  this  respect;  be  not  satisfied 
with  finding  that  the  evil  spirit  has  not  yet  entered.  You 
are  to  change  condition  and  circumstances,  and  conse- 
quently temptations.  It  is  never  too  late  for  the  heart 
to  be  taken  captive  by  that  snare  of  the  devil.  The 


494  SERMON  XXII. 

young  man  in  his  studies,  with  no  wants  but  his  own  to 
provide  for,  is  a  very  different  being  from  the  same  man 
in  the  world,  with  a  household  to  provide  for.     The  root 
of  evil,  which,  in  the  retirement  of  preparatory  study, 
may  lie  almost  dormant  in  the  heart,  may  grow  rapidly  to 
seed  when  stimulated  by  the  influences  of  more  social  and 
public  life.     Flee  these  things  in  the  motives  which  shall 
influence  you  in  selecting  or  seeking  a  field  of  labor  in 
your  sacred  work.     Flee  these  things  hereafter  in  the  con- 
siderations which  shall  govern  you  in  changing  a  field  of 
labor  where  your  work  is  blessed,  for  another  more  invit- 
ing in  a  worldly  view.     Flee  these  things  in  those  efforts 
and  arrangements  which,  under  the  general  duty  of  so 
providing  for  yourselves  and  your  families,  as  to  be  free 
from  the  necessity  of  distracting  secular  cares,  it  is  proper 
for  a  minister  to  see  to;  but  which  may  be  so  seen  to  as 
to  nourish  a  worldly  spirit,  and  betray  the  operations  of 
that  spirit,  to  the  great  injury  of  your  usefulness.     Flee 
these  things  in  the  very  appearance.      Take  care  of  your 
conversation,  lest  it  seem  so  to  love  to  linger  amidst  cer- 
tain topics,  and  so  to  indicate  a  mind  attached  to  certain 
channels  of  thought,  that  the  appearance  will   be  as  if 
your  interests  and  affections  were  more  under  the  sway  of 
the  love  of  money,  than  the  honor  and  usefulness  of  your 
high  calling  allow.     Be  determined  that  there  shall  be 
nothing  in  your  actual  state  of  mind,  or  in  your  reputa- 
tion, to  hinder  yqu  from  preaching  with  all  boldness  and 
faithfulness  against  all  worldliness  of  mind,  and  especially 
that  deadly  form  of  it  now  under  consideration;  nothing, 
when  you  are  so  preaching,  reasonably  to  awaken  in  the 
hearer  the  words,  "Physician,  heal  thyself'' 


THE  MINISTER  OF  CHRIST  EXHORTED  TO  GROWTH  IN  GRACE.    495 

2.  But,  besides  what  we  are  to  Jfoefrom,  St.  Paul's  ex- 
hortation to  Timothy  prescribes  what,  as  ministers  of  the 
Gospel,  we  must  follow  after ;  "  Follow  after  righteous- 
ness, godliness,  faith,  love,  patience,  meekness." 

The  foundation  of  the  minister  is  the  Christian.  To  be 
a  man  of  God  in  office,  one  must  first  be  a  child  of  God  in 
heart  and  life.  The  first  school  of  preparation  for  the 
preaching  of  Christ,  is  that  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ 
in  the  habitual  experience  of  a  believing  heart,  embrac- 
ing his  promises,  living  on  his  grace,  following  his  com- 
mandments. Education  for  the  ministry  begins  at  the 
conversion  of  the  sinner;  it  goes  on  with  every  new  ex- 
perience of  his  own  heart  and  of  the  preciousness  of  Christ; 
it  enlarges  as  faith  increases,  and  love  grows  earnest,  and 
lessons  of  patience  and  meekness  are  better  learned,  and 
as  righteousness  and  godliness  are  more  understood  by 
their  practical  applications  in  the  daily  life.  The  educa- 
tion of  books  and  teachers  and  the  class-room,  from  the 
foundation  in  the  college  to  the  termination  on  the  day 
of  the  laying  on  of  hands,  makes  far  the  most  appearance 
to  the  common  eye,  and  to  some,  we  fear,  seems  the  only 
education.  Its  great  importance  I  need  not  assert  or  vin- 
dicate. But,  brethren,  it  is  merely  man's  education.  The 
teacher  is  only  man ;  and  for  a  man  of  God  we  need  God 
to  teach.  It  is  his  work  we  have  to  do,  and  it  is  his  pre- 
paration we  must  have.  Hence,  important  as  is  the  edu- 
cation of  learning  and  of  the  intellect,  the  education  that 
grows  up  in  the  closet  of  secret  prayer,  in  the  personal 
application  of  the  Scriptures  to  your  consciences,  to  your 
hopes,  your  affections,  and  motives,  and  walk;  in  the 
study  of  yourselves  and  of  that  spiritual  knowledge  of 


496  SERMON  XXII. 

Christ  for  which  Paul  counted  all  things  but  worthless ; 
that  education  of  which  the  Bible  is  the  text- book,  the 
spirit  of  God  the  teacher,  a  meek  and  lowly  mind  the 
learner,  secret  prayer  the  lamp,  and  a  watchful  self-disci- 
pline the  rod ;  that  education,  the  progress  of  which  is  in 
the  bringing  of  every  thought  more  and  more  "into  cap- 
tivity to  the  obedience  of  Christ."  Oh !  nothing  can 
compare  with  that  in  its  worth  or  necessity  to  a  minister 
of  the  Gospel.  It  is  riches  which  we  may  well  covet  after: 
it  is  gold,  the  love  of  which  is  the  root  of  all  blessings, 
and  addeth  no  sorrow  with  it :  it  is  the  strong  protection 
against  erring  from  the  faith — far  stronger  than  the  best 
education  in  the  mere  knowledge  of  the  arguments  of  the 
truth. 

A  minister  without  the  education  of  books  is  consid- 
ered a  very  destitute  being,  and  very  unqualified  for  his 
office.  But  a  minister  with  the  education  of  grace,  what 
is  he  in  the  sight  of  God  ?  What  should  he  be  in  his  own 
sight  ?  The  man  of  an  unchanged  heart ;  who  never 
came  as  a  sinner  to  Christ  for  mercy ;  who  knows  nothing 
by  experience  of  that  precious  Gospel  out  of  which  all  the 
object,  motive,  weapons,  encouragement,  strength,  and 
patience  of  the  ministry  must  come ;  the  mere  hireling 
functionary  wearing  the  profession  of  the  ministry  as  an 
automaton  performs  its  part  in  the  dress  of  a  living  man ; 
a  dead  body  standing  up  in  the  holy  place  of  the  sanctua- 
ry, braced  to  its  position  by  outward  ordinance  and  worldly 
ties:  can  such  do  the  work  of  an  evangelist?  Nothing 
would  have  filled  a  devout  Israelite  with  a  deeper  sense 
of  profanation  than  to  place  a  corpse  by  the  altar  of  God's 
temple.  But  what  must  be  thought  in  Heaven  of  one 


THE  MINISTER  OF  CHRIST  EXHORTED  TO  GROWTH  IN  GRACE.    497 

who  is  yet  dead  in  heart  towards  God,  with  all  the  corruption 
of  an  unregenerated  nature  about  him,  such  a  man  minis- 
tering in  Gospel  sacraments  and  Gospel  promises  and  in- 
vitations, professing  to  stand  beside  the  fountain  of  living 
waters,  as  if  he  knew  their  preciousness  to  perishing  souls; 
accountable  for  the  duty,  which  he  has  bound  on  his  soul 
by  most  solemn  vows,  of  setting  forth  the  Saviour  of  sin- 
ners in  all  the  riches  of  his  grace  !  Is  HE  a  man  of  God  ? 
Yes,  in  profession,  in  vow,  in  office,  in  responsibility.  As 
such,  he  must  stand  at  the  judgment  bar.  Oh  !  that  all 
would  be  horribly  afraid  of  being  made  by  ordination  men 
of  God,  until  they  have  been  first  made  by  regeneration 
God's  children,  having  the  spirit  of  adoption  shed  abroad 
in  their  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Bat  it  is  not  the  possession  of  grace  so  much  as  growth 
in  grace  that  we  are  led  by  the  text  to  speak  of — the  fol- 
lowing after  more  and  more  attainment  in  the  several  at- 
tributes of  a  Christian  character  already  essentially  pos- 
sessed. 

And  here,  I  would  say,  with  special  emphasis,  that  a 
minister's  spiritual  qualification  for  his  great  spiritual 
work  is  in  his  being  not  merely  a  Christian,  but  a  growing 
Christian.  Is  it  the  merely  living  tree  that  bears  good 
fruit,  or  is  it  the  growing  tree  ?  Is  it  the  old  wood  of  the 
vine  that  puts  out  the  fruit-bud,  and  suspends  the  clus- 
tering grapes,  or  the  latest  growth  ?  So  it  is  with  every 
Christian.  He  is  either  growing,  or  withering  in  his  reli- 
gious life.  There  is  no  possibility  of  his  standing  so  per- 
fectly still,  that  he  shall  be  neither  gaining  nor  losing.  So 
is  it  with  the  minister.  He  may  possess  the  essential  re- 
ality of  the  spiritual  life,  and  that  life  may  have  manifest- 
32 


498  SERMON  XXII. 

ed  itself  in  many  goodly  branches  of  the  true  vine ;  but 
if  those  branches  are  not  growing,  they  are  decaying,  and 
their  fruitfulness  has  declined.  That  growth  which  once 
bore  fruit  may  remain,  but  the  buds  of  new  fruitfulness 
are  not  formed.  We  can  no  more  depend  on  a  past  growth 
of  love  and  faith,  for  present  fruits  of  love  and  faith, 
than  the  Israelite  in  the  wilderness  could  subsist  one 
day  upon  the  manna  that  he  gathered  days  before ;  or, 
than  a  Christian  can  live  upon  past  prayers,  instead  of 
daily  renewed  communion  with  God.  It  is  the  pres- 
ent experience,  and  not  merely  the  remembered  expe- 
rience of  the  grace  of  God ;  it  is  the  fresh  enjoyment  of 
his  love,  the  fresh  delight  in  his  service,  fresh  spiritual 
discernment  of  things  of  the  spirit ;  it  is  the  knowledge 
of  Christ,  not  merely  once  attained  and  still  preserved, 
but  a  knowledge  daily  renewed  and  now  enjoyed,  and  now 
ever  enlarging  and  getting  more  and  more  to  possess  the 
soul,  which  prepares  us  for,  and  animates  us  in  patiently 
pursuing  our  daily  work,  and  makes  the  man  of  God  as  a 
tree  planted  by  the  rivers  of  water,  bringing  forth  its 
fruit  in  due  season,  the  leaf  never  withering. 

Give  me  the  man  in  whose  heart  the  love  of  God  is 
abounding  more  and  more,  and  I  will  ask  him  to  preach 
on  the  wonderful  love  of  Christ  in  the  redemption  of  sin- 
ners, and  on  the  constraining  power  by  which  it  should 
bind  us  to  live  unto  him,  as  well  as  on  all  the  earnest  de- 
votedness  which  should  flow  therefrom.  Give  me  the  min- 
ister of  an  active,  strengthening  faith,  such  as  is  daily 
drawing  new  supplies  of  grace,  and  hope,  and  peace,  from 
the  fountain  in  Christ,  and  he  shall  preach  on  such  a  text, 
as  "He  ili at  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  life."  Show  me  the 
minister  who  is  going  on  to  acquire  an  ever  fresh  and  en 


THE  MINISTER  OP  CHRIST  EXHORTED  TO  GROWTH  IN  GRACE.   499 

larging  experience  of  the  preciousness  of  that  peace  which 
Jesus  promises  to  the  weary  heart  that  comes  to  him, — 
he  is  the  man  to  go  with  a  tender,  affectionate,  persuasive 
zeal,  and  tell  a  perishing  world  what  a  Saviour  they  are 
rejecting,  when  they  turn  away  from  Jesus.  Oh  !  it  is 
when  we  are  most  hungering  and  thirsting  after  righteous- 
ness, that  we  are  best  prepared  to  press  sinners  to  come 
to  the  heavenly  feast.  Then,  it  is,  that  the  Bible  is  so 
full  of  texts;  and  that  materials  of  discourse  seem  so 
richly  to  abound,  and  that  the  true  savor  and  unction  of 
the  Gospel,  as  morning  dews  from  the  mount  of  God,  rest 
upon  our  ministry ;  because  then  we  speak  what  we  do 
know,  and  testify  what  our  faith  solemnly  realizes.  How 
shall  we  minister  in  the  Gospel  with  any  sustaining  confi- 
dence that  we  ourselves  are  true  disciples  of  Christ,  having 
a  saving  interest  in  his  redemption,  except  we  are  striving 
to  grow  in  grace  ?  There  is  no  evidence  that  we  are  alive 
unto  God  so  good  as  that  of  growth  in  the  grace  of  God. 
How  shall  we  preach  to  a  Christian  people  upon  the  duty 
of  a  continual  progress  in  holiness,  yea,  reprove,  rebuke, 
and  exhort  with  all  long-suffering,  that  their  path  may  be  as 
the  shining  light  which  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the 
perfect  day,  except  we  know  in  the  consciousness  of  our 
hearts  that  we  ourselves  are  striving  after  that  same 
blessed  progress?  And  how  can  we  ever  increase  in  the 
real  strength  of  our  ministry,  in  its  power  with  God  to 
bring  down  the  blessings  of  his  spirit,  or  in  its  power  with 
man  to  accomplish  in  his  heart  that  great  change,  which 
only  the  power  of  God  can  effect,  but  as  we  increase  in 
our  personal  nearness  to  God  through  faith,  and  become 
more  thoroughly  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost  ? 


500  SERMON   XXII. 

Therefore,  0  man  of  God,  and  ye  who  are  now  to  be 
invested  with  the  office  of  the  man  of  God,  I  beseech 
you  "  follow  after  righteousness,  godliness,  faith,  love,  pa- 
tience,  meekness."     You  will  need  all  the  strength   of 
"faith"  you  can  ever  obtain,  that  you  may  do  your  work 
in  full  view  of  eternity,  of  God,  of  judgment,  of  heaven, 
and  hell;  that  you  may  trust  with  an  unflinching  and 
undiscouraged  heart  in  those  divine  promises,  which  must 
be  all  your  consolation  as  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  and 
may  always  enjoy  the  invigorating  feeling,  that  you  go  to 
your  labors  in  the  name,  in  the  grace,  in  the  strength, 
and  under  the  shadow  of  the  Almighty.     You  will  need 
all  the  "love"  you  can  ever  get,  to  give  you  that  earnest, 
affectionate,  pleading  heart,  out  of  which  the  true  elo- 
quence of  our  ministry  proceeds,  and  which  alone  fur- 
nishes the  constraining  motive,  the  unwearied  zeal,  the 
abundant  argument,  and  the  whole  pleasure  of  our  office. 
You  will  need  all  the  progress  you  can  make  in  "patience 
and  meekness"  so  that  difficulties,  and  crosses,  and  appa- 
rent unfruitfulness,  and  the  hardness  of  heart,  and  all  the 
thousand  annoyances  and  discouragements  of  every  form, 
which  you  must  expect  to  encounter  in  trying  to  bring 
sinners  to  God,  instead  of  paralyzing  your  zeal  and  ma- 
king you  settle  down  in  a  mere  formal  routine  of  service, 
that  expects  no  blessing  from  God  and  no  great  work  of 
grace  in  man,  may,  on  the  contrary,  take  you  nearer  to 
the  arm  of  the  Lord  for  help,  and  make  you  more  con- 
formed to  the  mind  of  Christ,  who  was  "  meek  and  lowly 
in  heart." 

And  now,  that  I  may  as  much  as  possible  speak  the 
word  in  season,  to  those  who  are  here  to  be  invested  with 
the  office  of  ministers  of  Christ,  I  will  introduce,  as  it 


THE  MINISTER  OF  CHRIST  EXHROTED  TO  GROWTH  IN  GRACE.     5  01 

were,  a  new  text,  as  the  guide  of  what  I  desire  yet  to  say. 
You  remember  the  words  of  our  Lord  to  his  ordained 
disciples — u  I  have  ordained  you  that  you  should  go  and 
bring  forth  fruit,  and  that  your  fruit  should  remain."' 

"/  have  ordained  you"  Ever  in  the  course  of  your 
ministry,  my  young  friends,  remember  from  whence  your 
authority  to  minister  in  the  Lord's  vineyard  proceeds. 
Visibly,  the  servant  and  steward  of  Christ,  who  is  over 
you  in  the  Lord,  conveys  it.  Invisibly,  it  is  the  Lord 
himself  who  gives  it.  You  can  have  no  place  in  the  or- 
dained stewardship  of  the  Gospel,  but  as  Christ  himself 
assigns  it  to  you.  In  assigning  the  work,  and  investing 
you  with  the  commission  of  his  ministers,  he  lays  on  you 
the  most  solemn  responsibility  to  himself.  "  /  have  or- 
dained you"  means,  to  me  you  are  to  give  an  account.  Your 
day  of  ordination  and  your  day  of  judgment  are  most 
intimately  connected.  The  vows  and  the  duties  here  to 
be  bound  upon  you,  will  be  bound  in  heaven;  and  whether 
you  heed  them  or  not,  fulfill  them  or  not,  they  will  meet 
you  and  confront  you  in  the  day  when  you  shall  give 
account  of  your  stewardship.  Realize,  then,  that  it  is  the 
Lord  who  ordains  you.  He  appoints  your  work;  he  will 
bring  your  work  into  judgment;  he  is  to  be  your  guide 
in  doing  it,  and  your  great  consolation,  when  you  feel 
your  weakness  for  so  momentous  a  trust.  He  is  your 
whole  strength,  your  all-sufficient  strength ;  a  very  present, 
as  also  a  very  mighty  help  in  all  time  of  need. 

But  for  ivhat  does  the  Lord  thus  put  you  into  his  min- 
istry? It  is  a  question  which  it  were  well  for  you  often 

*Jolmxv.  1C. 


502  SERMON  XXII. 

and  most  solemnly  to  put  to  your  own  hearts  and 
consciences — why  hath  the  Lord  ordained  me?  Why 
this  order  of  ministry,  thus  created,  so  perpetuated,  so 
protected ;  entered  by  such  vows ;  held  under  such  re- 
sponsibility? Why  am  I  admitted  thereto  ?  Is  it  that  I 
may  obtain  a  worldly  maintenance,  or  enjoy  a  respectable 
position,  and  sustain  a  routine  of  formal  ecclesiastical  ser- 
vices? Is  it  for  myself,  or  the  Lord?  my  own  emolument, 
or  the  salvation  of  sinners?  "I  have  ordained  you  that  you 
should  go  and  Iring  forth  fruit"  Fruit  to  the  glory  of 
God,  whatever  it  may  cost  in  point  of  personal  sacrifice, 
is  the  single  object  of  the  ministry  now  to  be  committed 
to  you.  Nothing  can  take  its  place — nothing  can  excuse 
its  absence.  "Every  branch  in  me  (saith  the  Lord)  that 
beareth  not  fruit,  he  (the  father)  taketh  away."  It  is 
cast  into  the  fire,  and  is  burned.*  If  these  solemn  words 
apply  to  all  fruitless  members  of  the  visible  Church,  much 
more  do  they  apply  to  all  fruitless  branches  of  its  minis- 
try. Let  their  solemn  warning  be  ever  sounding  in  the 
ear  of  your  consciences,  and  especially  when  you  are 
tempted  to  live  unto  yourselves,  instead  of  to  the  Lord ;  to 
be  satisfied  with  the  perfunctory  fulfillment  of  a  certain 
round  of  customary  offices,  and  to  make  your  ministry  ter- 
minate in  itself,  instead  of  aspiring  evermore  to  be  instru- 
mental in  gathering  more  fruit  to  the  glory  of  the  grace 
of  God. 

But  the  question  arises  here — what  is  the  fruit  which 
the  Lord  ordains  you  to  go  and  bring  forth  ?  The  answer 
is  found  in  the  Lord's  own  words — "  that  your  fruit  should 
remain"  It  is  abiding  fruit,  such  as  will  remain  when  the 

John  xv.  5,  6. 


THE  MINISTER  OF  CHRIST  EXHORTED  TO  GROWTH  IN  GRACE.    503 

world  and  all  that  is  therein  shall  have  passed  away  ;  stand- 
ing the  test  of  God's  final  judgment,  and  remaining  to 
His  glory  for  ever  and  ever. 

There  is  never  a  ministry  without  fruit,  either  good  or 
evil ;  nor  without  fruit  that  remains  in  its  blessings  or  its 
woes  for  ever  and  ever.  We  cannot  avoid,  if  we  will, 
the  doing  some  work.  Our  indifference  and  worldliness 
and  negligence  and  formality  will  preach  and  make  their 
impression,  if  zeal  and  earnestness  and  faithfulness  do 
not.  But  fruit  that  will  remain  when  the  Lord  of  the  har- 
vest, whose  fan  is  in  his  hand,  shall  thoroughly  cleanse  his 
floor,  and  gather  the  wheat  into  his  garner,  and  burn  up 
the  chaff  with  unquenchable  fire — that  is  the  end  of  the 
work  to  which  you  are  called. 

There  is  much  fruit  in  the  Lord's  ministry  which,  in 
that  day,  will  be  lighter  than  vanity,  and  far  worse  than 
nothingness.  What  if  you  teach  a  system  of  doctrine 
which  is  not  according  to  God's  word,  and  lead  away  the 
minds  of  sinners  from  an  exclusive  trust  for  salvation  in 
the  righteousness  of  Christ,  to  a  self-righteous  reliance  on 
their  own  obedience  ;  and  they  become  earnest  in  that  re- 
ligion, and  diligent  in  thus  going  about  to  establish  their 
own  righteousness,  not  submitting  themselves  on  the  right- 
eousness of  God,  prepared  in  Christ,  for  their  justification; 
and  what,  if  to  increase  their  opportunity  of  establishing 
the  more  widely  and  surely  their  own  righteousness,  you 
invent  for  them  works  of  merit,  works  of  self-sacrifice,  works 
of  compensation  to  the  law  of  God,  which  have  no  sanc- 
tion in  the  scriptures ;  works  of  "  voluntary  humility  ; "  and 
what  if  in  their  zeal  to  work  out  a  righteousness  that  will 
satisfy  the  demands  of  God's  law,  they  become  exceedingly 


504  SERMON    XXII. 

laborious  in  such  works,  giving  largely  of  their  substance 
to  build  religious  establishments,  spending  daily  much  of 
their  time  in  prayers  and  sacraments  and  divers  bodily  ser- 
vices, so  that  you  think  them  very  devout  and  holy — what 
is  all  such  fruit  ?  Will  it  remain  ?  Is  there  any  other 
foundation  than  that  which  God  has  laid  in  the  obedience 
and  death  of  his  only  begotten  Son?  And  can  all  this 
leading  of  the  souls  of  men  away  from  that  only  founda- 
tion, to  the  substitution  of  their  own  righteousness,  be  else 
than  unspeakably  abhorrent  to  God  ?  Can  there  be  any 
fruit  of  your  ministry  more  ruinous  to  the  souls  of  your  peo- 
ple, or  more  condemning  to  yourselves  ?  Can  it  abide  the 
day  of  God,  or  stand  when  he  appeareth  ?  Can  it  endure 
the  fire  that  shall  try  every  man's  work  of  what  sort  it  is  ? 
There  is,  however,  good  fruit  which  doth  not  remain. 
It  is  good,  but  temporal ;  which  belongs  to  the  present 
earthly  dispensation  of  the  Church,  but  will  have  no  place 
in  the  heavenly  and  eternal ;  it  lasts  till  death,  but  no 
longer.  It  is  good,  and  must  be  sought,  and  has  its  im- 
portant uses  and  relations ;  but  it  is  secondary  and  subsidi- 
ary, and  only  good  when  kept  in  that  position.  I  speak  of 
all  that  belongs  to  the  exterior,  the  visible  of  the  Church,  in 
its  ordinances  and  ritual,  its  edifices  and  ornaments,  so  far  as 
the  word  appoints,  or  a  wise  consideration  of  the  great  end 
of  all  may  permit.  Take  care  that  you  give  these  exter- 
nal things  the  right  place  of  importance  in  your  ministry, 
and  no  more.  They  are  the  scaffolding  of  the  building; 
they  must  not  be  treated  as  if  they  were  the  building 
itself.  When  this  is  finished  they  will  be  dispensed  with. 
They  belong  to  the  seen  and  the  temporal  You  may  do  a 
great  work,  in  the  estimation  of  man,  in  bringing  people 
to  sacraments  and  to  attending  on  outward  services,  in 


THE  MINISTER  OF  CHRIST  EXHORTED  TO  GROWTH  IN  GRACE.    505 

rearing  church  edifices  and  covering  the  land  with  all  the 
visible  of  religion,  and  yet  nothing  for  eternity ;  nothing 
that  will  remain  when  all  that  is  seen  shall  vanish  away, 
and  only  the  spiritual  and  the  eternal  shall  endure ;  noth- 
ing that  he  who  ordains  you  will  esteem  as  the  fruit  for 
which  you  are  sent.  Despise  not  these  things;  labor  for 
them  in  their  proper  relation  and  place.  But  remember 
they  are  only  secondary  means  at  the  best. 

But  fruit  there  is  that  remains  to  all  eternity.  What  is 
it  ?  I  trust  you  are  all  ready  to  say,  "It  is  the  salvation 
of  sinners,  by  bringing  them  to  Christ;  it  is  their  being 
brought  to  repentance  and  to  a  saving  faith  in  Jesus,  and 
their  abiding  by  faith  in  him  as  all  their  hope  and  life; 
that  is  the  fruit  for  which  we  are  ordained."  Yes,  verily; 
and  what  else  will  you  compare  to  that  ?  All  the  visible 
of  the  Church — ministry,  sacraments,  ritual,  will  pass  away, 
just  as  the  visible  of  the  former  dispensation  has  all  pass- 
ed away.  But  that  remaineth.  That  alone  glorifies  God. 
That  alone  did  Jesus  die  for,  and  send  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
accomplish,  and  the  ministry  to  labor  for.  All  else,  in 
comparison,  is  vanity.  You  may  spend  your  lives  in  the 
mere  building  up  of  the  Church  in  its  outward  appoint- 
ments ;  but  he  who  brings  only  one  sinner  to  Christ  is  in- 
finitely beyond  you  in  the  fruit  of  his  ministry.  For  such 
fruit  the  faithful  minister  expends  his  strength;  around 
that  one  point  his  studies,  and  prayers,  and  anxieties,  and 
labors  concentrate.  He  is  comforted  only  as  he  may  hope 
that  God  is  blessing,  or  will  bless,  his  work  with  such  re- 
ward. My  brethren,  is  that  to  be  the  begining  and  end- 
ing of  your  work  ? 

But  how  will  you  seek  it  ?  By  what  means  ?  The  ques- 
tion is  exceedingly  important.  There  are  ways  and  means 


506  SERMON   XXII. 

by  which  you  may  seek  to  save  sinners,  and  utterly  fail,  and 
worse  than  fail ;  leading  souls  away  from  Christ,  and  har- 
dening them  in  impenitence  and  self-righteousness,  just  be- 
cause they  are  not  those  means  which  the  Lord,  who  or- 
dains you,  has  ordained  to  be  used  by  you.  Read  the  par- 
able of  the  sower.  The  sower  is  the  minister  of  the  Gos- 
pel. What  means  does  he  employ  ?  He  sows  seed.  He 
expects  nothing  but  as  the  product  of  seed.  What  is 
that  seed ?  " The  Word"  answers  the  Lord.  Does  the 
Lord  speak  of  any  other  seed  ?  Can  any  thing  produce 
the  fruit  of  life  in  the  souls  of  men,  but  as  it  contains, 
or  teaches,  or  nourishes  the  word  therein  ?  Are  sacra- 
ments seed,  or  only  helps,  under  God's  blessing,  of  teach- 
ing, enforcing,  impressing,  and  nourishing  the  only  seed? 
Must  not  all  growth  in  grace,  in  all  the  world,  be  traced 
exclusively  to  God's  blessing  on  his  word,  his  truth ;  just 
as  all  fruit  in  the  harvest-field  must  be  ascribed  to  the  sun 
and  rain  nourishing  the  seed  of  the  husbandmen  ? 

Remember,  then,  my  brethren,  that  to  sow  the  seed  of 
the  word,  and  the  word  only,  and  by  all  the  means  of  grace 
to  promote  its  growth,  is  as  much  your  great  work,  as  it 
is  to  go  and  seek  the  salvation  of  souls  ;  he  who  fails  here, 
fails  in  his  whole  ministry.  Nothing  can  supply  that  lack. 
To  "preach  the  word ;  "  and  in  that  one  work  to  be  "in- 
stant in  season,  out  of  season"  is  to  be  your  life.  All  your 
heart  and  mind  and  strength  are  needed,  and  are  demand- 
ed for  it.  All  are  in  your  ordination  consecrated  to  it, 
and  must  be  employed  for  it.  So  Paul  charged  Timothy 
— so  you  are  charged  to-day — "  before  God  and  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  who  shall  Judge  the  quick  and  the  dead,  at 
his  appearing."* 

*2  Timothy  iv.  1,  2. 


THE  MINSTER  OF  CHRIST  EXHORTED  TO  GROWTH  IN  GRACE.    507 

Bat  the  word  of  God  is  the  testimony  of  Christ.  He 
is  "  the  truth"  as  well  as  the  life.  The  word  severed  from 
its  relations  to  him  is  not  the  word  of  God,  is  not  "the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesns,"  and  cannot  be  the  seed  of  the 
fruit  of  holiness  and  eternal  life.  You  may  preach  a  great 
deal  of  the  word,  yea,  nothing  but  truth  and  the  word. 
You  may  preach  many  very  solemn,  and  affecting,  and 
alarming  truths,  and  may  make  serious  impressions,  and  get 
the  praise  of  much  faithfulness.  Duties  may  be  earnestly 
enforced,  the  law  held  forth  in  its  strictness,  and  the  judg- 
ment day  in  its  terrors  ;  and  yet  you  may  not  preach  the 
word  in  its  integrity ;  you  may  not  sow  the  good  seed  of 
the  kingdom ;  you  may  not  preach  the  Gospel,  because 
you  may  not  preach  Christ.  Does  he  teach  the  solar  sys- 
tem, who  while  he  accurately  describes  all  the  planets  in 
all  other  repects,  omits  to  exhibit  their  relations  to,  and 
dependence  on,  the  sun  ?  Can  he  preach  the  Gospel,  who, 
whatever  else  of  truth  and  of  the  word  he  may  teach, 
does  not  set  forth  Christ  and  him  crucified  in  his  person, 
and  offices,  and  work  for  sinners,  his  death,  and  present 
ever-living  intercession,  as  the  great  central  light,  and 
life,  and  glory,  on  which  all  Christianity  depends,  on 
which  all  its  parts  concentrate,  from  which  all  our  hope, 
and  strength,  and  righteousness  proceed  ?  Can  the 
word  be  the  seed  of  spiritual  life  in  the  sinner's  heart 
but  as  it  thus  testifies  of  Jesus  ?  Can  any  fruit  of 
your  ministry  be  that  fruit  which  will  remain  to  the  eter- 
nal blessedness  of  the  soul  and  the  endless  glory  of  God, 
except  as  it  grows  from  the  word  thus  testifying  of  Christ  ? 
And,  my  brethren,  will  you  not  determine,  by  the  help  of 
God,  to  make  it  the  study  of  your  life  to  be  able  with  all 


508 


SERMON   XXII. 


simplicity,  and  clearness,  and  directness,  and  faithfulness, 
and  fullness,  in  the  spirit  of  Christ,  to  teach  Christ  to  the 
consciences  and  hearts  of  men  ?  Will  you  not  sit  at  his 
feet,  that  he  may  teach  you  more  and  more  that  great  les- 
son ?  Will  you  not  seek  your  whole  happiness  in  that 
school,  and  your  whole  reward  in  that  one  work?  Never 
are  my  sympathies  and  affections  more  called  out  and  mov- 
ed, than  when  I  look  upon  a  young  man  just  entering  on 
the  work  of  the  ministry.  I  see  before  him,  by  the  light 
of  experience,  what  he  as  yet  cannot  see,  however  he  may 
expect  it,  all  his  trials  of  heart,  with  himself  with  the 
world,  with  temptations  to  discouragement  and  desponden- 
cy, to  coldness  and  formality.  And  the  more  his  desire 
to  do  the  work,  and  the  deeper  his  sense  of  the  solemn 
responsibility  upon  him  and  the  worth  of  souls  about  him, 
the  greater  will  be  many  of  his  trials.  My  heart  is  with 
that  young  man  in  all  its  sympathies.  Such,  I  trust,  are 
those  now  present,  awaiting  the  laying  on  of  hands  for 
the  work  of  the  Gospel.  I  can  only  commend  them  to 
God  and  his  grace,  that  they  may  have  for  their  constant 
teacher  and  helper,  and  their  final  portion  and  glory,  that 
same  Jesus  to  whose  work  they  are  now  to  be  sent.  Ever- 
more may  you  abide  in  him,  and  he  in  you  !  Evermore 
may  you  be  "  strengthened  with  all  might,  and  the  Spirit, 
in  the  inner  man,"  accomplishing  the  end  of  your  work  in 
the  bringing  forth  of  much  fruit,  of  souls  brought  to  Christ 
and  abiding  in  him  ! 


ERRATA. 

e    6 — line  G  from  the  bottom,  for  perceivetk,  read  receivetlt. 
13 — line  2,  before  Catholic,  put  the. 
142 — line  19,  for  terrors,  read  terror. 

176 — lines  18  and  19,  for  we  know  not,  read  it  doth  not  yet  appear. 
235 — line  13,  before  promises,  put  the. 
371 — text,  for  give,  read  giving. 
372 — note,  for  Rom  xm.  17,  read  Rom.  viii,  1G,  17. 
379 — note,  after  Is.  lx.,  put  19. 
392 — line  22,  for  precious,  read  previous. 
460— last  line,  for  that  of,  read  to. 
463 — last  line,  for  it,  read  text. 
471 — first  line,  before  man's,  put  in. 
496 — line  17,  for  with,  read  without. 
503 — line  9  from  the  bottom,  for  on,  read  to. 
503 — line  4  from  the  bottom  for  and,  read  by. 


508 


SERMON   XXII. 


simplicity,  and  clearness,  and  directness,  and  faithfulness, 
and  fullness,  in  the  spirit  of  Christ,  to  teach  Christ  to  the 
consciences  and  hearts  of  men  ?  Will  you  not  sit  at  his 
feet,  that  he  may  teach  you  more  and  more  that  great  les- 
t  seek  your  whole  happiness  in  that 


the  bringing  forth  of  much  fruit,  of  souls  brought  to  Christ 
and  abiding  in  him ! 


/r 


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7s 


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72 


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3/S 


Sty 


396 


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